The White Warrior and The Angel of Destruction
by Kanzen ne Tsuki
Summary: COMPLETE The bodies of innocent children are being found mutilated in the Taki Mountains, and Kenshin has lost his spiritki to the Power and lust that hunts the blood of the living. RomanceAngstHumor. Gore and grafic description. Mild sex.
1. Too Much Blood

This is my first fanfic, but not my first fiction. I just never let anybody read them. Anyway, my teenage son got me hooked on the Kenshin series and now I am a hopeless fanatic. I can't help it. I am even going out and buying the series CD's. (That is bad for somebody's Mom J ). I really don't know where this idea came from, I just sat down one day and started to type and it has just been coming out ever since. I have nearly 19 fully chapters. In short, it is almost finished. If I get decent reviews, I'll post some more of it. My son likes it, but maybe he's biased. You know how kids are. I have been out of the school loop for a long time, so forgive me if my grammar is 'a little off'. Old people can not be expected to remember everything. J That's what I have my kids for. J   
  
Standard disclaimers. I do not own Ruroni Kenshin. I just wanted to borrow the characters for a little bit of fun, so please do not sue me. You can't get blood out of a turnip anyway. Besides, I could never come up with anything as great as Kenshin and Kaoru on my own anyway.  
  
   
  
So Much Blood  
  
So much blood. So much death. So much needless violence.  
  
'Who could have done this? Who would want to do such a horrible thing as this to so many innocents and why? Why? It is senseless… Mindless… Heartless… Evil.'  
  
Humura Kenshin, former Hitokiri Battousai of the Meiji Government looked about him in horrified shock and grief. Bodies upon bodies lay upon the ground and hung out of broken windows lining the streets of what had once been the peaceful village of Gonzai.  
  
Where only a few short days ago he had walked these same streets and passed these same people as they bustled about with their daily lives and the process of living and raising their families now they all lay dead and rotting in the afternoon Sun. Men, women, the old, the young. But what bothered him the most was all of the children. All of the children had been slaughtered the same as the others. He found many next to their mothers still clinging to their kimonos while others had been cut down as they tried to run away, but the results were the same. Each and every soul of Gonsai was dead. Viciously and brutally murdered by some unknown group of men with many swords. Samurai with katana long swords could do this kind of damage. Kenshin knew that from his days as Hitokiri during the Bakumatsa and his dealings with the Shinsengumi, but he had never heard of any of them banding together to butcher entire villages since the end of the war. This did not even look like the work of bandits, because as far as he could tell, nothing had been taken.  
  
Vender goods remained untouched within their stores, foods and meats lay spoiling in their crates beneath the heat of the Sun, not even the monies seemed to have been removed from the tightly bound leather bags stashed behind each vending stall.  
  
This appeared to simply mindless murder and mayhem without purpose or reason. But why? Why this village? Why these people? Kenshin had known them to be simple farmers and hill people who lived at the base of the Taki Mountain Range. They grew their own wheat and carrots. There were a few tomatoes and peas as well, but rice was very scarce and once a month a group of the men had to travel over 50 miles to Kyoto to purchase the staple for the entire Village. There was a fast moving stream near the village that poured down from the high reaches of the mountain. Within its cold clear depths swam an abundance of yellow and orange perch. This was the main stay of the villages food supply. It was also their main source of trade income and the means to obtain the much needed rice.  
  
The simplicity of these poor peoples lives only added to Kenshin's confusion as to why they would be the victims of such a terrible act of violence.  
  
As he picked his way through the fallen and the huddled bodies of the dead, Kenshin began to notice something else odd about the scene around him. A feeling was beginning to worm its way into his being. A feeling of impending dread began to fill his heart. Beads of cold sweat started to slide down his spine and he shivered despite the warmth of the Sun. He felt uneasy and anxious. There was a darkness and wrongness here. A sense of oppression and utter despair that weighed heavy on his soul and his heart.  
  
"This is all wrong…" He whispered to himself. His eyes swept across the carnage and up to the sky. The Sun seemed to dim and grow hazy before him as if it too felt the wrongness of the moods and feelings that hung in the air. Multiple ki's clung like death shrouds above the bodies so thick Kenshin could almost see them now. Wavering shadows of translucent gray mist with hollow eyes and gapping mouths seemed to be appearing everywhere. Floating here and there and multiplying by the moment until there seemed to be hundred of them. Amber eyes widened with anxiety and angry fear as his hand snaked to the hilt of his sakobato pulling it part way from its heavy wooden sheath. He had seen something like these shadows before. Somewhere in the back of his mind terrible visions of blood and violence were threatening to break to the surface of his reality, but he fiercely beat them back behind the wall of stone where he had buried them. "Not now… not yet. I have to get to Kyoto first, to Saitoh, then they can come back out, but not before. Please, do not let them come back out before I get back to Kyoto. Please…"  
  
Slowly Kenshin began to make his way out of the village with a new and terrifying understanding. It was shrouded in much more than just the wrongness of irrational murder.  
  
"Protect me, Kami-sama…" He breathed quiet as the breeze blowing gently through the dust as he stepped carefully over each body until he reached the outer edges of the village. "Protect me from those things that walk the Earth unseen by the eyes of men to devour the souls of the living. Help me…"  
  
*************  
  
"Are there any signs of the Battousai yet?" Hajime Saitoh, formerly of the Shinsengumi, and now know as Fujita Gorou, Captain of the branch of the Meiji Police in Kyoto spoke harshly from his office to his young Sargent, Izukia. "Is there any news of him at all?"  
  
"Ahh, no Sir. We have had no news whatsoever since Himura-san left a little over two months ago, but I am certain he will return soon. He has always returned from the missions you have sent him on in the past, and I see not reason why he should not return this time." Izukia had developed a great respect for the Battousai since the defeat of Shishio Makato and his Juppen Gatana one year ago. Now the highly skilled red-haired Samurai occasionally worked for the Captain and the Meiji Police as a spy of sorts.  
  
Because of his no threatening demeanor and short stature, Himura-san could easily blend in with practically any circumstance and any group of peoples. That was as long as he covered that damn cross scar on his face. It seemed that everyone in all of Japan knew about the Battousai's scar, but no one knew anything about Himura Kenshin. Nor did they know that Himura-san had a face that was pretty enough he could almost pass for a young boy, or even a girl especially with all of that thick long red hair as well. Sergeant Izukia and several of the other Officers had thought to jest with the swordsman about that observation, but quickly changed their minds when his amber eyes rooted them to their spots and his sakobato began to slide free of its sheath. That had ended the jesting with the usually amethyst eyed red-haired even tempered swordsman. But it did not change the fact that those very attributes were what made him the perfect undercover operative. They were also the same attributes that had allowed him to remain a successful hitokiri for such a long time as well.  
  
"YOU see not reason…" Saitoh's voice was heavy with sarcasm as he rose from his desk and walked out to his Sergeant. "YOU see no reason…" He repeated as the younger man faced him with wide eyed anxiety. "Since when do you have any idea what is going on here, Izukia? When did you grow a brain in that idiot head of yours?" A puff of cigarette smoke blown directly into Izukia's face caused him to cough sharply.  
  
"B-b-bb-but Sir…" He stammered on to be cut of abruptly by his superior.  
  
"Be quiet, Izukia. You only make yourself sound more foolish than you already are." Saitoh moved and leaned a hip negligently against Izukia's desk and continued to smoke the thin cigarette. "You do not know what sort of mission I sent Battousai on this time. It is nothing like any of the others before."  
  
"What do you mean, Sir? What sort of mission was it? Where did he go?"  
  
"I sent him to the Taki Mountains."  
  
"The Taki Mountains?" Izukia's voice was heavy with confusion. His dark brows knitted together in thought as he tried to remember if he had heard anything of any importance about the Taki Mountain Range area of late, but it did not register as familiar to him. Looking at the stern face of his Captain, he asked. "What is in the Taki Mountains Sir, that you would send Hirmua-san there?" Silence followed his question while Saitoh finished his cigarette. As he dropped the butt on the floor, his heavy black booted foot stepped on it crushing the glowing ember to ash.  
  
"I have been following rumors in the area for several months, Izukia."  
  
"Rumors Sir? What sort of Rumors?"  
  
"Rumors about children's bodies being found in the forests torn to shreds. Some found with arms or legs missing. But all of them have had one thing in common once closely examined."  
  
"What is that, Sir?" Izukia swallowed hard as a lump of nausea rose in his throat.  
  
"Each has had his or her chest ripped open and their heart removed."  
  
"Izukia grabbed for his trash barrel and vomited heavily into it. Saitoh watched dispassionately as the younger man emptied the contents of his stomach into the small barrel while he lit another cigarette. "I thought you had more balls than that, Izukia. You disappoint me."  
  
"They are just children, Sir." He chocked and coughed as he wiped his mouth on a white handkerchief he produced from a coat pocket. "Who in the name of Buddha's eyes would do such a thing to a child?" He continued to cough into the scrap of cloth, his eyes tearing.  
  
"Succuba, demons, witches, maybe even the Devil himself. That is what I sent the Battasoui to discover. There has been rumored to have been over fifteen children found in the last six or seven months alone. No one will say how long this has been going, but I think it has been some length of time. There are several remote villages and towns involved, and the rumors are becoming more and more frequent. Something evil is afoot, and I mean to find out what it is."  
  
Izukia's eyes were wide in horrified disbelief. "Witches, demons… Sir, that is insane! There are no such things in this world. I-it is impossible. There is another explanation for these rumors. You must know there has to be."  
  
Saitoh's thin eyebrow rose sardonically at the fear his Sergeant displayed. 'Fucking coward.' He sneered to himself then said. "Believe what you will, Izukia, but the potential fact of multiple murders remains, whomever may be responsible. That is a reality even you cannot dispute." A puff of cigarette smoke filled the air clouding the image of Saitoh's face temporarily. "There could be an insane and perverse being living and killing at will unchallenged in the Taki Mountains, and his favorite prey is the very young and innocent, or we could be looking at something far worse than any of us have dared to perceive in our rational minds before." Another puff of smoke and a pause, then Saitoh's pale yellow eyes narrowed to a mere slit causing him to resemble even more the Wolf he was often called. When he spoke again, his voice was low and harsh like steel grating on granite.  
  
"Whether human or demon, man or beast, I will not allow this animal to continue his bloody ways unchecked. I need to know what the Battousai has found out." A frown creased his thin stern features. "Unless he has fallen prey as well." Saitoh heaved a great sigh crushing the second cigarette beneath the heel of his boot. "Dammit!" He swore. 'I never thought I would ever with that fucking man were alive. I never did.'  
  
*************  
  
"One.. Two.. Three.. Four…. And repeat." Kamiya Kaoru called out the count to the Khinatsu Kata and carefully watched each of her eight students perform the intricate motions and movement with their wooden shinai. Her cobalt blue gaze stopped to rest on one student in particular. Yahiko. A slow motherly smile curved her soft full lips. He had just turned twelve, and he was growing so much taller now. Her forehead wrinkled in retrospect. Had it really be two years since she started teaching him? Two years since Kenshin had come into their lives? Could it really have been that long? Kaoru wondered how the time had passed so quickly, but it was true. The Kenshin-gumi had been thriving for two full years. One year since the demise of the lunatic Shishio and his Juppen Gatana.   
  
"Kenshin…" His name fell from her lips in a tender whisper. Her life had changed so much since he had stumbled into it that long ago day when she had challenged him on the street believing him to the false Battousai murdering people in her Father's name. Now she looked on him as one of her most valued friends and companions. He was an important part of her family just like Yahiko, Sano, and all of the others. What a strange way to find a family. Among a river of strangers. She chuckled softly thinking of the menagerie of lost souls that made up the Kenshin-gumi, but that did not matter to her. She knew she would not have it any other way.  
  
Her mind began to drift as thoughts of the red-haired swordsman began to consume her mind. Gentle amethyst eyes twinkled before followed by a warm smile that always made her heart skip a beat or two when it was directed at her. A tangle of long, thick deep red hair floated through her minds eye tickling her cheeks and nose leaving behind the lingering scents of ginger and musk that were uniquely Kenshin.  
  
"I miss you." She said to no one in particular then shook herself back to reality and refocused on her practicing students.  
  
Yahiko's sharp eyes had not missed his sensei's faraway look a moment ago. A scowl crossed his young sharp features. 'She is thinking about Kenshin again.' He thought. 'He has been gone a long time this time, and I think she is getting worried.' He frowned thinking. 'I guess I am too. I wonder where he could be and what is taking so long this time.' Large light brown eyes looked intently at his teacher as she counted off the movements of the kata for the younger students. 'He better hurry up and come home soon. I do not think I can handle her getting all weird again like she did when he left for Kyoto before.' He sighed and swung his shinai swiftly and sharply changing his stance and lifting it in a deadly upper stroke that would strike his opponent from beneath. "Hiiiiyaaa!!" And then he spun around dropping the shinai for a finishing downward blow of great force.  
  
"Excellent, Yahiko! Excellent!" Kaoru shouted and praise to her prize student as she watched him execute a perfect multi stroke attack sequence. "You improve more everyday. Kenshin will be so proud of you when he returns. Just wait and see. I know he will." She was grinning at him and clapping her hands with obvious approval. Yahiko felt a sense of self pride swell in his chest. To have Kenshin be proud of him would be the greatest praise he could ever get. It was the one thing he wanted the most.  
  
"You better be all right, Kenshin, and you better hurry up and come home soon. You have been gone too long. Way too long." Yahiko's brown eyes shifted to the dojo door and he walked outside to look up into the hazy afternoon sky. "You have never been gone this long before. If anything has happened to you… Damn Saitoh and his stupid missions! I will kill him myself if anything happens to you. I swear it. I will kill that bastard Shinsengumi Wolf if he takes you away fro us!" Then his strong young hands tightened painfully around the hilt of his shinai in mock promise of his muttered threat.  
  
************  
  
He ran until he thought the pain in his lungs would cause them to burst into a cloud of bloody mist. Legs that quivered with the massive physical exertion he had placed on them suddenly threatened to collapse beneath his weight as he staggered to a halt and fell to his knees. His head hung low to the ground and he had to put his hands out to hold himself up as he gulped air in harsh ragged breaths through a throat that felt too small and too dry to function.  
  
Had he felt what he thought he had? Had he really seen what could not be? Could it be true? This blasphemy he was thinking? The terror he had felt in his heart caused by the evil ki's he had sensed in Gonzai told him it was true, but his rational mind kept trying to deny it. But could he deny it? He was not sure he could. Not after everything his eyes had already seen. What had he seen? He still was not sure. The visions and memories were getting jumbled up in his mind with memories of the Revolution, memories of the Battousai, and memories of his long forgotten childhood. He had been through a psychedelic nightmare of horrors in the last three weeks of this seven week journey into Hell, and his ability to distinguish between his own memories and the visions of what he had witnessed in the forests of the Taki had become compromised by his own guilt and pain.  
  
Somehow he had managed to brining his screaming soul under control enough to realize he had to get back to Kyoto, back to Saitoh. He had to tell Saitoh that their worst suspicions were not only true, but they were much, much worse than either of them could have ever imagined. The Death that stalked the Taki Mountains was unlike anything either of them had faced in the days of the Bakumatsu when blood was spilled as easily as water from a broken pitcher. This was not just murder. This was Evil in its most terrifying form. It went beyond all known reality and known form of crime.  
  
  
  
This was Monstrous.  
  
This was Hell at its purest interpretation.  
  
And for the first time in his life, Kenshin was truly afraid.  
  
He rested for several minutes until he could breath naturally again, then struggled to his feet. Looking about him, he surveyed where his mad long flight had carried him. The position of the Sun told him he was at least going in the right direction. There was little in the way of cover in the vicinity except some scattered boulders and a few scrubby elm trees. He would have make due with what was available to him here because he knew he would not be covering any more distance that day. He was fatigued to the very core of his being. He could go no farther.  
  
In a few moments Kenshin located a fairly substantial stand of trees that was backed by several large boulders. He was satisfied the site would provide him shelter from the night winds as well as cover from the remaining sunlight and any possible rain that might fall.   
  
After gathering dried grasses and shrubs, he cleared a small area beneath the trees, and started a fire. As the blaze slowly grew, he added small twigs and branches he had gathered. Once certain the fire was burning well, he gathered more dried grasses as well as fresh grasses and fashioned himself a bed some little way from the warmth. Then he proceeded to go through his pack and find something to eat.  
  
After satisfying his basic needs, Kenshin lay down on his make shift grass bed and watched the Sun begin to set on the distant horizon. A chill from a cool breeze wafted through the grove of trees and sifted through the silky strands of his long red hair. Individual pieces lifted and floated in the air like fiery snakes dancing about his face. He watched the spectacle for several minutes until he felt his eyelids growing heavy with fatigue and sleep.  
  
"To sleep and dream…" He said to the fire. "May the arms of Buddha protect me from the unseen feet that race across the plains hunting the blood of living and the innocent." And he drifted off to sleep.  
  
************  
  
Shinta was only seven years old, but he was still being worked as a slave. Everyday he worked for the Master at whatever task was given him, and in return, the Master fed and clothed him and took care of him. He had been with the Master for nearly a year now. Ever since his family had died.  
  
His Mother, Father, and three older brothers had all died of Cholera the year before, and he had been sold to the slave Master by their Land Owner to pay the taxes on his Father's land. It was not such a bad life. At least he was not alone at night with the ghosts anymore.  
  
At firsts he had hidden in the corners of the small house where he had lived with his family trying to get away from the ghosts, but they had always found him anyway. First it was his older brothers trying to talk to him; trying to pull him across the barrier to where they were. Chasing him, following him, they would seek him out in whatever small space he managed to squeeze himself into. He could never get away. Shinta had cried and cried and begged them to leave him alone, but they kept coming back night after night. Then his Father had died.  
  
Seeing his Father's ghost had been terrible for the small boy. His Father had been a frightening man in life and Shinta had feared him terribly. Tall, broad of shoulder with long dark hair and eyes. "You are a weak boy, Shinta." He would say as he dragged the boy into the rice fields day after day and threw him to the ground. "But I will make you strong….strong like your brothers. The work will make you strong." Then his Father's fierce face would bare down on his youngest son and he would sneer in a menacing voice. "Or it will kill you. You decide which it is to be." Then he would leave Shinta to work until well after dark. His Mother would protest, but his Father would never bend his will. "The boy must grow strength in his body, Dharma, or he will perish in this harsh world because of his small size." Shinta knew his Father was trying to do what was best for him, he did not understand why it had to be so difficult all off the time, or why his Father had to be so cold and unfeeling towards him. 'Why doesn't my Father love me?'  
  
Shinta was sad when his Father died, but all he could really think about was not having to work in the rice fields until last at night anymore, nor did he have to be afraid of his Father's brusque coldness towards him either, but Shinta was not prepared for his Father's ghost when it came. It came and hovered in the center of the room mocking the boy with its ghoulish frowns and scowls, and whenever Shinta tried to approach his failing mother, the ghost angry visage would drive him away preventing him from even the simplest of contacts.  
  
Finally Shinta's Mother, too, passed away from the terrible disease and her ghost joined the others of his family, and she tried desperately to protect him just she had while she had been alive. She would chase the others away and shield him from his Father's angry glares no longer giving in to his fierce demands. Her beautiful face was forever imprinted upon his mind. Glorious hair like the fires of the great volcano's billowed about her angelic face. Her eyes glowed with the light of a thousand lavender crystalline lights. She had been the only person who truly loved him in his life, and he had worshiped her and loved her with all his heart and soul. His tiny heart had shattered into a million billion fragments when she died. She had forced him to stay away from the illness so he would not get sick along with everyone else. So in the end, he was the only one to survive.   
  
He had buried the bodies of his family one by one as they died. The day he buried his beloved Mother he packed what belongings he had and walked away from the house and into the Village. Mother had told him to go the Village Daimyos who owned their land. She said he would take care of Shinta once he was all alone.  
  
But the Daimyos did not take Shinta in as his Mother had believed he would, instead he sold the little boy to a passing Slave Trader.  
  
"This pays you Father's debt to me on the land, Boy. I owe you nothing, and you are nothing to me but the filthy brat of a filthy peasant. I am glad to be rid of you. Now get out of my sight and do not be thinking you can ever come back here and call this your home again. You are nothing but a stupid slave now which is more than you deserve." He spat in Shinta's face and walked away.  
  
The Slave Master was not as cruel as his Father. He never made Shinta work past dark, and he never called him weak or threatened that he might die because of it. Shinta often felt guilty because he liked the Master much better than he had ever liked his Father. He even liked working for the Master, and he would try his very best to do as much as he could everyday so the Master would find him valuable.  
  
The weather was just starting to turn cold and the slave train was passing within traveling distance of Kyoto City. The Master and his wife had been talking about going there and looking for long-term work in a restaurant, or a bowery, or even the monstrous rice fields of the Tokugawa. It all sounded like a great adventure to Shinta, and his excitement mounted as they neared the crossroads.  
  
Evening had just fallen upon the train and they had pulled off the road to camp for the night. The sounds of cooking and night settling could be heard up and down the length of the wooden carts. Soft talk and laughter mingled with the mundane sounds of living, and no one paid any attention to the group of seven men armed with long bladed katana's that approached them from the growing darkness.  
  
It all happened so fast, no one seemed to know what was going on. Screams of hysteria and fear rushed through the camp as the men pulled their katana's and began attacking the unarmed people, killing them quickly and mercilessly. So quickly it seemed nearly everyone was dead. The bloody bodies lay in tangled heaps strewn across the ground and across each other. Only four remained alive. The small boy, and three women who had been bought only the day before.  
  
The women were begging pitifully for the boys life to be spared as one by one the bandits murdered each of them until only the boy remained.  
  
He looked so small kneeling in the middle of the carnage of the dead who had been his living companions only short moments before. Huge round amethyst eyes, dry of tears, could only stare in shock and stunned disbelief. Dead again. His family….dead again. He could hear someone talking to him.. Someone was telling him that he would be better off dead like the others than trying to make it on his own, so it was a favor they were doing him by killing him. Maybe they were right. Maybe being dead was better. How many families can one small boy lose to death? Shinta stared into the face of one of the women and waited for death to come and get him too, but it did not come.  
  
Behind him he heard the men screaming. It was strange to hear THEM scream.  
  
The screaming was sudden, and then it stopped. Shinta waited. A man walked up to him. He was tall. Tall as a mountain, with hair black as the night, and eyes green as emerald jewels. He was wiping blood off the blade of a magnificent long blade katana. He was a Samurai. A real Samurai.  
  
The man was Seijurou Hiko, 14th Master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. He became Shinta's Master and taught him swordsmanship, and took him into his home and raised him as well.  
  
"Master…" Kenshin breathed in his sleep. Hiko-san had changed Shinta's name to Kenshin because he felt Shinta was to weak a name for a swordsman. Hiko-san had been Kenshin's teacher, mentor, and parent. He had also been the bane of Kenshin's soul because no matter how hard he struggled, no matter how hard he pushed himself, he remained forever the stupid apprentice.   
  
"Why could you not ever be proud of me, Master? Why?" The sleeping man's voice cracked with emotion as a fourteen year old swordsman's eyes and heart tried to reach the stern man. "Why could you not ever love me? You are the only Father I ever really had." Heavy salty tears slid from beneath his closed eyelids and were lost inside his thick red hair. "I loved you… I still love you… My Father."  
  
Suddenly the scene around Kenshin began to change. The familiar cliff where Hiko hand taught him faded away and a great dense forest of evergreen trees was growing around him. He felt an intense shiver of apprehension curl around his heart as the stars disappeared above the heavy canopy. It seemed even the light of the Moon could not penetrate through. The sounds of crickets chirping and the rustling of small creatures could be heard all around him, but he could see nothing through the wall of trees.  
  
Then in the far distance he saw a small yellow ball of light. It glowed brightly even though it was only a tiny pinpoint. An unknown fear began to congeal in his belly. He knew this light meant something, but he could not remember what; however, he was certain it was something terrible.   
  
Kenshin struggled through the brush trying to find a place to hide. The need to be hidden coursed through him to the point the thought he might break down if he did not find refuge from the vision of the light soon. At last he was kneeling behind a large broken stump that allowed him to peer over and see without being seen. The glowing light was coming closer and growing larger, and with it came strange out of place sounds. Kenshin realized to his dismay that he was trembling.  
  
Strange high pitched cries that sounded like wounded beasts or frightened children rose up into the night and grew louder and more disturbing the closer the light came. They wailed and whined wavering in the dark like wraiths searching for a place to rest in peace but finding none.  
  
More and more lights started to appear around the first until there seemed to be hundreds of them, and walking amidst them were cloaked and hooded figures. Kenshin could not see how many there were, but it seemed to him there must be hundreds of them as well. As they drew closer, the evil feeling that surrounded them began to penetrate the forest until it fell in a shroud of impending doom over him smothering him like a too warm blanket.  
  
"Noooo….." He pleaded to no avail as the oppressive ki descended upon him and consumed him. He had felt this before. He remembered now, but he still could not remember why.  
  
The hooded figures dressed in pale gray cloaks passed him by unnoticed as he crouched behind the large stump. The seemed to float above the ground on a gray-green mist that stank of death and decay. Kenshin covered his mouth to stifle a gagging cough as the air turned foul and putrid in the wake of their passage.  
  
The cries had become almost deafening now in their intensity sounding like the high shrill screaming of dying cats as their bodies parts are systematically torn off. But try as he might, Kenshin could not see a creature or person responsible for the cacophony. He would just have to wait to find out.  
  
The hooded figures with their lights began to form a large circle in a clearing below him. There was a large flat white stone in the center. His whole being recoiled violently from this sight. He did not want to remember this, but the vision continued on unchecked. He watched as a small white bundle was lain upon the stone. One of the figures moved towards it and stood at the top of the stone. It raised its arms high into the air as if reaching for the stars. In one hand it held a long thin bladed dagger that glinted in the glowing yellow light. The other hand was empty. Then this figure began to chant.  
  
Further horror gripped Kenshin as it began chanting in the accented cultured voice of an educated woman.  
  
The world began spinning around him and everything seemed to be moving at an alarmingly fast speed forward. He saw the woman and four men surround the large stone and unwrap the small bundle to reveal a tiny naked child who was bound hand and foot with rope. He could not hear the words being spoken, but the voice was high and shrill with insanity.  
  
Then in frozen horror and disbelief, Kenshin watched as the woman removed her hood….   
  
'NO!!" His mind screamed as recognition flashed through his shocked brain. 'No! IT CANNOT BE!!' And then the words his mind had tried so hard to forget spilled forth from her beautiful full lipped red mouth like vomitus slag.  
  
"ACUMA!!! ACUMA!!! ACUMA!!! GREAT KING OF HELL AND DAMNATION; KING OF CHAOS AND THE UNDERWORLD; LORD OF DARKNESS AND ALL THAT IS POWERFUL IN THIS WORLD. HEAR ME THIS UNHOLY NIGHT. ACCEPT THIS OFFERING OF PUREST BLOOD AS I SPILL IT WITHOUT MERCY, WITHOUT CAUSE, WITHOUT SHAME. ACCEPT THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT MY GREAT KING.  
  
WE ARE YOUR LOYAL SERVANTS. WE ALL SEEK TO JOIN WITH THY MAGNIFICENT PRESENCE. COME TO US, WE BESEECH THEE. COME TO US! ACUMA! ACUMA! ACUMA!  
  
And the child had died. Died screaming in an agony of pain and terror that had torn Kenshin's soul to shreds along with her tiny body as the thin bladed dagger had plunged into her soft flesh again and again and again. He had hidden his eyes against bent knees unable to watch as tears and hysterical sobs consumed him. The screams stopped quickly, but the sounds of slashing and ripping flesh seemed to go on for and eternity until suddenly there was a great and horrible crackling laugh that rose up to shake the canopy of the trees. He carefully looked up but then doubled over retching violently onto the ground unable to bare the sight he had seen.   
  
The stone where the child had lain was now a bloody butchers block. The body of the child was so hideously mutilated that it was difficult to tell that it had been a child at all. Both legs had been severed and lain on either side of the stone. The arms were stretched out over the top of them. But the worst thing was the body itself. It was torn open from throat to belly, all the ribs were broken and pulled back from the chest cavity leaving a huge gaping hole. It was quite easy to see that the child's heart was gone, torn or cut free. The woman held it high in her left hand with blood running in thick rivulets down her arm and the dripping onto the front of her pale gray cloak.   
  
All of the other hooded figures were starting to dance around the clearing in some sort of a frenzy now, coming up to the bloody stone to dip their hands into the blood of the dead child. The Blood of The Innocent. They were licking it off their fingers, wiping it on their faces and each other, throwing off their cloaks to wipe it on their naked bodies. Some were even falling to the ground to engage in wicked and evil couplings turned violent by the blood.   
  
It was vile.  
  
It was debauchery.  
  
It was blasphemy.  
  
That was when the thundering and lightening began. Tremendous bolts of blinding white energy began crashing to the ground in thunderous explosions that shook the ground and the mighty trees. The already frenzied people began screaming in hysterical terror and trying to run away where ever they could, but the lightening refused to let them leave. One after another they were struck down and burned to mere ashes by the awesome flashes of white. Each one like a great burning finger with a mind and will of its own. Kenshin stayed huddled behind his tree stump not daring to move even one little bit lest he be caught by one of the natural assassins as well.   
  
When the flashing lightening finally stopped, only the woman and the four men remained. Not one of the other disciples could be seen or found. They were all gone. Burned to dust by the fury and power of The Demon's Finger's.   
  
"It cannot be…. It cannot be…. It cannot be…. Kami-sama protect me." Kenshin prayed fervently as he huddled shaking behind his tree stump. He had never been a very religious man in his life. As the Battousai he had never had much use for the Gods of Buddha or religion, but as he knelt here on the side of this mountain in the dead of the fateful night, he felt the need to pray for the very first time. The need for a power greater than his own, and that was when Himura Kenshin started to pray.  
  
The night had become still. Still as death itself. Not one sound penetrated the canopy. No crickets chirped now, no small creatures rustled in the low brush. There was not even a breath of a breeze. Kenshin's breathing was short and shallow. His face was pale and wet with tears, and his flesh trembled on the bone though he did not feel cold. He suddenly felt very much like a rabbit being hunted by an eagle, and he dared not move a muscle. Something was coming. Something…. Something very wrong, something terrible, and he was afraid. Truly afraid.  
  
Then there was a magnificent flash of lightening far brighter and more intense than any of the others. It seemed to light up the whole world in a brilliance that forced Kenshin to cover his eyes and cry out in pain. It was accompanied by an explosion of tremendous proportions. The ground beneath him shook and heaved with movement and he could hear trees crashing into one another as they feel unable to withstand the rumbling force. Great cracking and shattering noises split the air as huge fissures opened in the earth and started swallowing the massive trees, boulders, and mountains of dirt whole. The entire world seemed to be destroying itself beneath his very feet. Kenshin screamed and curled into a ball as tight as he could trying to protect himself. 'I am going to die.' He though. "Kaoru-dono…." His heart cried. "I love you! I have always loved you! ' And as the ground lurched and heaved, Kenshin heard a great and terrible voice roaring above the sounds of destruction.   
  
"I AM HERE! COME TO ME, MY BELOVED AND LET US ONCE MORE JOIN TOGETHER THIS GLORIOUS NIGHT."  
  
With supreme effort Kenshin grasped the broken stump and pulled himself to his knees and looked below into what was left of the clearing. What he saw there caused his heart to stop beating, the breath in his lungs to freeze, and his mind screamed in hysterical denial just before it snapped. He began screaming and screaming though the sound was swallowed up by the roaring of the creature below him. No one heard him. No one. But he continued to scream as the horror and terror swept through his rational mind blinding him to all things logical and real, and as the primitive instinct to hide and survive began to take over his consciousness, he started screaming the name of the only one who could help him.  
  
"Master!!! Maassterr!! Hiko-san!! Father!! Hiko!!! Father!! FATTHHER!! FATHER!! FAAAATTTHHHEERRRR!!!! Then Kenshin fell into the black pit of oblivion. 


	2. The Road back to Kyoto

Here is Chapter Two. I need to make some clarifications that I noticed were lacking in Chapter Once. I have changed from HTML to a .txt so that the reading format looks better (whew), and I have also found another way to separate thoughts from speech. ("") is for speech, and ('') is for thoughts. Italics do not show up in this format, but I hate the way the HTML makes the story look. Don't you? Also, some translations I was lax in verifying.  
  
Sakobatou-reverse bladeKatana-long blade sword  
  
Bakumatsu-RevolutionDaimyos-Lord or Magistrate. Land Lord  
  
Shinai-batoun or wooden fencing stickAcuma-Devil  
  
'Demon's Finger'-Lightning (my own creation)Kata-training practice sequence  
  
Ki-spirit or soul. Fighting spiritGonzai-fictional village (my own)  
  
Taki Mountains-fictional name (my own)Dono/San-Honorifics. Mr. Miss. Sir  
  
Sensei-Teacher  
  
There, I hope that is helpful. I have tried to use the characters and make them as close to their true selves as possible, but I have had to tweak them a little bit to fit the story line. I hope nobody minds. Kenshin isn't the total push-over he usually is, but he has his moments, and Karou is a little less moody, but she has her moments too. There is a lot of Angst coming later on, and some good old fashioned romance and blood and guts, but that is later like I said.  
  
Standard disclaimers apply. I love Ruroni Kenshin, so we went for a little stroll down imagination lane. Please don't sue me. This is just for fun.  
  
Chapter Two  
  
The Trip Back to Kyoto  
  
Hiko noticed blandly that he was consuming more and more Sake' these days. These days since his stupid apprentice had decided to come waltzing back into his life and turn everything upside down. His thoughts were so confused of late. Deep green eyes narrowed into angry slits at he took another long drink for the clay jug he was holding. It had recently come to his attention that his apprentice had gotten himself mixed up with that Shinsengumi wolf, Hajime Saitoh as some sort of a spy or something working for the Meiji Government.   
  
"No good will come of this relationship." He snorted and coughed as some of the Sake' ran down his chin. Wiping it away with the back of his hand, Hiko wondered what new brand of stupidity Kenshin had gotten involved in this time.  
  
"Kenshin…" He shook his head in resignation. "He will never learn anything, because he never learns from his mistakes." Another long swig. "Why is he so stupid? Why didn't he ever listen? Why is he so determined to put himself in needless danger all of the time?" A deep growl of fury rose from Hiko's broad muscular chest and he angrily threw the Sake' jug across the small room causing it to break against the wall. "Why can he not just settle down with that Kamiya girl and start a family and stop all the bloody fighting and hero crap before he gets himself killed?! What the hell is wrong with him?!" He shouted to the painted pots lining the shelves around him.   
  
  
  
Closing his eyes, he tried to calm himself and rose to his feet and walked outside. The air was crisp and clean and filled memories. Memories of a small red haired boy with large amethyst eyes and the fighting spirit of a Tiger stumbled one after another through his fragmented mind. He had refused to be dominated. He had fought Hiko every step on the way through his training, through their life together, through everything. Hiko's heart had broken in such a way that he thought it may never heal when Kenshin abandoned his training to join the Bakumastu. His rebellion had been complete. He had left despite the facts that his training was incomplete and he was only fourteen years old. Hiko had felt like a failure as a Master and as a Father. Somehow he had been unable to instill in the boy the sense of responsibility and commitment to complete what he had started as well as respect the words of his Sensei.  
  
The drinking had really started then a Hiko had turned to his companion of Sake' for comfort and solace in the absence of his apprentice. However, it had gotten much worse during the years Kenshin had stalked the streets and countryside of Kyoto as Hitokiri Battousai. His beautiful shining boy had become the most proficient and feared hitokiri the Revolution had ever seen, and Hiko wanted to die with each murder Kenshin committed in the name of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. Nearly 400 men had fallen beneath the Battousai's blade in the short time he was Hitokiri. Two and a half years of bloody assassinations the Battousai gave the Meiji Government. Two and a half year of walking the shadows and murdering whom ever he was told to without moral obligation or guilt. He was not protecting his family, or his land, or even fighting a bloody ground battle for his Daimyos. He was murdering in cold blood specific men he was ordered to. They were men who stood in the way of the new Government and its progression towards and established peace.  
  
The Battousai and his deadly katana were key factors in the ushering in of the Meiji's Era of peace and freedom, but at what cost to himself. There had been so much damage to his inner self. To his soul. To his heart. To his spirit. Hiko had seen it when Kenshin came to him a year ago to beg him to complete his training in order form him to defeat the Demon that had been Shishio Makato.  
  
Hiko was still unable to reconcile himself with the man what had stood before him that spring day. So different from his boy, yet still the same. His heart has wanted to weep, but his pride had demanded he be cold and aloof as always, perhaps more so. He would never let this man close to him. He would never let him see the pain in his heart.  
  
He would teach him and then push him out of his sight in hopes he would never see him again, but it was not meant to be. Somehow their paths continued to cross on occasion. Perhaps he was not meant to be free of Himura Kenshin.  
  
His long legs carried him to the old wooden shed that stood to one side of his small home where he kept the clay for his pottery and his stash of Sake'. Once he had a fresh jug, he headed up the well-worn path to the cliffs. He could always block his thoughts of his adopted son with the Mitsurugi Kata, and he felt the need to do that even though the Sun was easing itself down to the horizon. The cliffs and the waterfall were his only haven from his personal grief. His only refuge. He continued to climb.  
  
A short time later Hiko was in the middle of the strenuous but graceful dance-like movements of the Mitsurugi Kata. His three-foot long katana became an extension of his arm as he swung it through intricate and elegant attack patterns. He leapt into the air changing positions with lightening speed landing light as a feather only to leap again all the while swinging the long blade. Sweat poured down his heavily muscled body as he pushed it to and beyond its physical limitations. At 45 years of age he was still in perfect physical condition and his strength was undisputed.   
  
As he leapt into the air, katana out stretched in the Ryu Tsui Sho San he felt himself suddenly seized by a force so powerful it brought him crashing to the ground. "Nnngghhh…!" He tried to rise to his knees but found he could not because of a terrible pressure-pain exploding in his chest and head. His large hands grabbed the sides of his pounding head, and he groaned loudly laying back down on the ground. "What the hell…" He moaned in agony.  
  
It pained him to even breath as the incredible pressure crushed against his heart and lungs. He rolled onto his side curling into a fetal position trying to ease the pressure, but was unsuccessful. It seemed all he could do was moan and endure it and wait.   
  
"Dear God…" He gritted between his clenched teeth. "What is happening to me?" His eyes were starting to blur and he could feel the darkness of a faint coming upon him. "NO!" Hiko refused to give in to the void of unconsciousness. As long as he was awake, he was still alive.  
  
After what seemed like and eternity, the pain gradually began to ebb away from him, and as it did, Hiko felt something else pressing on him. It was something achingly familiar, yet foreign in someway. He stared up into the dark of the night sky and watched the stars wink and glitter like so many diamonds as he concentrated on the anomalous sensation instead of the pain. His brow furrowed in deep confusion, and then changed to an even deeper knot of concern.  
  
"Kenshin, my boy… my son… why are you so afraid?" What had frightened you to the point of reaching out to me in the midst of your nightmares? And why WOULD you reach for ME at all?" Hiko sat up as the pain finally disappeared altogether leaving behind only the disturbing residue of Kenshin's terrified ki clinging to him like a sobbing child. "Where are you, Kenshin? What has happened to you? What IS happening to you?" Even when he was small and he had nightmares about his dead family and the dead slavers, Kenshin have never been this afraid. Hiko felt the icy finger of a Fatherly anxiety he had not allowed himself to feel for many years lace itself up his spine. Something terrible had happened. Something beyond even anything the Battousai had ever done or seen. He had never felt a terror like this before from anyone's soul. How could he find out what was going on? He thought. Then it came to him in a rush.  
  
"Kamiya!"  
  
Hiko threw himself off the ground grabbing his katana on the way up and ran down the path completely forgetting about the jug of Sake'.  
  
*************  
  
Morning dawned brightly in Kyoto. The sky shone a brilliant blue, but the breeze that wafted across the City was cold and biting causing Her inhabitants to clutch their clothes a bit tighter to their flesh. Fall must be coming sooner than expected this year, or perhaps… there was another reason. After all it was only the beginning of August. It should not be getting this cold yet.  
  
Four or five days had passed since Kenshin had walked through Gonzai, and he now found himself on the outskirts of Kyoto. Breathing a great sigh of relief, he trudged into the City with the knowledge he would soon be in Saitoh's office in a few short hours, and then he could unburden his mind and share what he knew.  
  
Amethyst eyes narrowed with worry. Would Saitoh believe the tale he had to tell him? Or would he look at Kenshin like he was insane? Kenshin was beginning to wonder if he were insane after the night of terror of three nights ago. Or was it four? He shrugged mentally and closed his eyes against that memory. He did not want to think about it yet. Talking to Saitoh about it was soon enough to remember. Just getting to Kyoto safely felt like a major accomplishment to Kenshin right now, and that was enough.  
  
Sargent Izukia was setting calmly at his desk filling out a burglary report when Kenshin walked into the Police Station.  
  
"Hello, Sargent Izukia." He spoke in his usual polite quiet tone. "Is your Captain available?"  
  
Izukia stated in his seat not having heard the man enter the room. "H-hh-himura-san!" He exclaimed in surprise and pleasure. "It is so good to see you, Sir." He ran around his desk to grasp the swordsman's hand warmly. "Captain Fujita was beginning to worry something may have happened to you when you had not returned for so many weeks."  
  
"Hmmmm…" Kenshin allowed a tired smile to cross his face as he nodded  
  
"But I knew you would come back. You always do." Izukia beamed continuing to shake Kenshin's hand.  
  
"Sergeant…" Kenshin spoke again. "Is your Captain here? I do have important information to report to him, and I really do not want to wait if I do not have to."  
  
"Oh, oh yes, of course. Of course he is here. Come. Come this way. I will take you back to his office. I am sure he would want to see you right away as well. He has been very anxious about any news from you concerning what you might have found out." Kenshin heard the rise in the younger man's voice and cast him a sideways look. 'Hmmm, I wonder what Saitoh told him?'  
  
  
  
"Captain Fujita, Himura-san has returned at last." Izukia's voice held a note of triumph and just a tinge of 'I-told-you-so'.  
  
Saitoh's thin silver-gray brows rose in irritation at his young Sergeant's audacity as he observed in a cold voice. "I can see that for myself, Izukia. Thank you for pointing out the obvious. Now get the hell out of my office and go back to your reports." He absently lit a cigarette as the man scampered for the door. "Shut the door as well Izukia. I am sure THIS particular conversation will not sit well with YOUR pathetic stomach." The door banged shut sharply. "Idiot." Saitoh sneered as he blew out a gray puff of smoke.  
  
"Well, I see you are not too much the worse for wear, Battousai." He indicated for Kenshin to set down. "You do appear pale and thin. Are you ill?" He asked as he smoked and looked out the window behind him.  
  
"No, just very tired, but thank you for asking." Saitoh noticed Kenshin's voice was much quieter than his usual, and there was a different quality to it as well. He cast a piercing glance on the red headed swordsman examining him carefully. There was definitely a serious change in the man setting in front of him. He looked…. Haunted was perhaps the best word. Saitoh stubbed out his cigarette and leaned back in his chair.  
  
"Tell me… tell me everything."  
  
"Are you certain you are ready to hear EVERYTHING, Saitoh?"  
  
Confusion flickered across the Wolf's face, but he nodded his head. "Yes, I want to know everything. Everything you saw. Everything you heard. Everything."  
  
"All right," Kenshin straightened up in his chair and took a deep breath. Dark purple eyes met pale yellow. "But remember, you asked for EVERYTHING."  
  
*************  
  
Himura-san had been in Captain Fujita's office for hours. Sergeant Izukia could not imagine anything that could take that long to tell. What had Himura-san seen in his two and a half months on the mountain? A shiver ran up the Sergeant's spine as he remembered the Captain's reference to witches and demons possibly having something to do with the rumors of these bizarre murders. He still refused to accept that notion, but he could not deny something strange was going on up there.  
  
Inside Saitoh's office he was setting stone still behind his desk. His chin was dropped toward his chest, his hands folded in his lap. His usually stern, sardonic face was completely impassive and reflected nothing of what he was thinking or feeling. He looked like a statue of himself. He had listened intently to Kenshin's report about the activities he had witnessed while investigating the rumors of murders in the Taki Mountains.   
  
Kenshin had named five villages that seemed to be involved the last one being Gonzai whose inhabitants had all been slaughtered with the last 3 weeks by beings unknown. He also reported something that Saitoh had not expected and that was the news of foreign involvement.  
  
"Europeans? Are you certain?"  
  
"Yes. There was no mistaking them."  
  
"How can you be so certain?"  
  
"Because I knew the woman." Saitoh had been shocked into several long moments of silence.  
  
"You knew Her?! HOW?"  
  
"She was once my lover." Kenshin replied softly. "Long ago in a faraway place far to the North."  
  
"Who is she?" Saitoh had demanded vehemently.  
  
"She was the daughter of a wealth European trader then. But I heard later she married a high ranking Japanese Military Officer within the Shogunate."  
  
"You know who, don't you."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Tell me."  
  
"It will ruin both of them, Saitoh. That it will."  
  
"I do not give a shit. Tell me."  
  
"She is the wife of General Katsura Anaki. She is the Lady Elsbeth Katsura of the Spanish Attaché to the Japanese Government."  
  
"Oh my God." Saitoh had gasped in horrified disbelief. "It cannot be. Battousai, it cannot be." His hands had covered his face as he muttered. "This could destroy the new alliance, the trade agreement. It could start another war. Dammit… dammit… dammit…" Then he had lapsed into silence.  
  
Kenshin sat in his own silence pondering the information he had relayed. Saitoh had accepted the witchcraft tale fairly easily much to his shock. He had even shown a level of understanding when Kenshin had explained the terrible senses of fear and evil he had felt in Gonzai. At one point the had even reassured Kenshin by telling him, "I may not like you, Battousai, but you are no fool, and you certainly cannot be accused of insanity. At least I do not feel you are behaving insane. So, please continue, and leave nothing out."  
  
Now the two men sat in total silence contemplating the words that had passed between them. Kenshin felt as if a great weight had been lifted from him. He did not have to bare this burden alone anymore; however, the fear was still his to battle as well as the memories and the visions. Those he could not share with anyone.  
  
"You realize we cannot let this continue, don't you?" Saitoh's voice was not more than a raspy whisper in the stillness of the office.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"We must find a way to stop them, to stop Her."  
  
"Yes, that we must."  
  
"We must find a way that will not bring shame to the General, or damage the alliance and trade agreements as well."  
  
"I understand. We must not let this touch the honor of Japan."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
Silence followed again. A cold deafening silence that hung in the air like a heavy curtain of despair. Still the two men remained unmoving.  
  
"We must kill her." Kenshin spoke the dreaded sentence on the woman neither of them wanted to face.  
  
"Yes. She must die for her deeds. We cannot allow her to live after all she had done."  
  
"How?"  
  
"I do not know. It must not look like she has been killed. Do you understand?"  
  
"Yes. It would cause an investigation of massive proportions."  
  
"It would. Word of her activities cannot be allowed outside of this room. For the sake of the Country, and the honor of the Military."  
  
"Agreed. It must be an accident. That it must. We must be prepared."  
  
"We must plan carefully."  
  
"Yes. Every detail must be covered so there are no mistakes; no clues."  
  
Saitoh's breath escaped in a rush as if he had been holding it. "No mistakes, no clues." His eyes met Kenshin's directly and their gazes locked. "It will be for you and I alone to do this thing, Battousai. Do you agree?"  
  
Kenshin felt a shiver of fear curl around his spine, but he knew Saitoh was right. They could not trust anyone else with this delicate of a matter. This was not just assassination; this was Justice in its holiest form. They were going to be the Hands of God, and Lady Katsura was going to pay for her evil, murderous ways with her life just as it should be.  
  
"Yes, I agree, that I do." Though his voice trembled slightly, it was clear and determined.  
  
"All right. Then we have to go back."  
  
"I know." 'Kami-sama, be with us and protect our mortal souls from the Evil that breaths Fire and Ice upon the Mountains of Take.'   
  
*************  
  
Kaoru was trying to cook again, but the smell of burning fish was the only odor that greeted her. "Rats!" She grumbled a she scraped the charred remains of the ruined fish into the refuge pile. "I wish Kenshin were home so he could cook. I think I am going to starve myself if he does not come back soon." She heaved a frustrated sigh and walked into the cooking area to check on the vegetables. "Well, at least these are still eatable." A meal of steamed rice and vegetable would have to do, and Kaoru dished her a hearty helping and walked outside to eat on the steps.  
  
She had started sitting here every evening to eat for the three weeks, so she could watch the entry gate. It was an active choice she made, and she knew this. She was waiting for Kenshin to walk through the gate. She was waiting for him to come home.  
  
Tonight was no different from any of the others. Except tonight she heard the unmistakable sounds of footfalls approaching the gate from the other side.  
  
"Kenshin?" Could it be? Kaoru put her bowl and chopsticks down and leaned forward in anticipation. She watched breathlessly as the gate started to open. "Please, Kami-sama let be him."  
  
But as the gate swung open it revealed a large shadow of a tall broad man wearing a long white cloak.  
  
"Hiko-san??" Kaoru jumped off the steps and ran to the big man. "What are you doing here? What is wrong?" Deep blue eyes searched his handsome craggy face earnestly. "Had something happened in Kyoto?" Then her face took on a look of extreme anxiety as a thought occurred to her. "Has something happened to Kenshin? Hiko-san, what has happened to Kenshin??" Her voice rose with fear and concern and her small strong hands snaked out to grab at the front of his cloak. "Hiko-san??"  
  
Hiko looked down into her petite anxiety stricken face solemnly. 'I had forgotten how beautiful she was.' He thought gently. 'And young. She is still so very young.'  
  
"Kamiya-dono," He carefully reached out and took her small cold hands into his much larger warm ones trying to calm her down before her emotions escalated too much farther. He managed to capture her fearful blue gaze with his dark green one. "We must talk, jou-chan. Please, where can we sit?" His deep voice seemed to bring the young girl back to a sense of rationalism, and she turned to look mutely at the dojo steps. "Ahhh, that is a fine place." Hiko agreed and he pulled her gently behind him as he moved to sit down. "I have walked just about as far as I wish to for today." And he sat down with a "Hummph".  
  
After putting his pack on the ground, he turned to look at the young girl setting next to him. Her face had turned quite pale and her lips were pressed into a thin line of worry. This was going to be more difficult than he had originally thought.  
  
"Kamiya-dono," He began gently. "Do you know where Kenshin is right now?"  
  
"Nani?" She looked at him in complete confusion. "I thought you were here to tell ME."  
  
"No." The dark head shook from side to side. "I came to ask you if you know what he is doing right now, and if you know where his is. Can you tell me anything?" His face was creased with a concern Kaoru was finding difficult to digest. After all, as far as she knew, Hiko held nothing but contempt and disdain for Kenshin.  
  
"Well, he has been working for Hajime Saitoh and the Meiji Police off and on over the past year or so. Did you know that?" When he nodded, she continued. "A little over two months or so ago Saitoh sent Kenshin into the Taki Mountains to investigate some strange reports he had been getting about the remote villages up there."  
  
Hiko's brow wrinkled in puzzlement. The Taki Mountains? "What kind of reports?"  
  
"I do not know. He would not tell me before he left, but he was very disturbed after he read Saitoh's last letter."  
  
"What did he say after he read the letter, Kamiya-dono? What did the letter say?"  
  
"He did not say anything to me. I heard him curse after he read it. I remember because it shocked me so much." At the look on Hiko's face she rushed on. "Kenshin never curses or even so much as raises his voice. Whatever it was in that letter was disturbing enough to push him past his usual level of self control."  
  
Hiko looked pointedly at the ground as his feeling of worry mounted. This vague information only increased the need he felt to find his adopted son and discover what was going on in his life. "Have you had any word fro him since he left?"  
  
"No. Nothing, and that is not like him either. He always writes at least every week or two just so I know he is all right. He knows that I worry when he is on these missions for Saitoh so he is always certain to check in to reassure me he is Ok."  
  
"He does?" Hiko could not help but smile a little.  
  
"Yes. He knows how much I hate him working with Saitoh at all because I just do not trust him. That rotten Wolf is just trying to get him killed anyway." Her voice had turned angry and a touch protective making Hiko's smile grow even more. 'Look out Hajime, Kamiya-dono may want your head on a block if anything's happened to Kenshin.'  
  
"All right. If he knows this, then why does he continue to help Saitoh?"  
  
A heavy sigh greeted that question. "Because Kenshin will always be Kenshin. He will always want to make a difference. He will always want to try and make things better any way he can, and as long as he feels that way, there is nothing anyone can say or do that can force him to stop doing what he does." Hiko had not been prepared for an answer like that. The simplicity of Kaoru's logic shocked and stunned him. He had never considered Kenshin's actions from that point of view before, and it had shown him in a whole new light to his Master. Hiko felt the beginning of something strange tickle and take root in his heart.  
  
"Do you think something has happened to him, Hiko-san?" Kaoru's soft voice intruded on his self-introspection. "Is that why you are here, or is it something else?"  
  
He knew he could not lie to the girl. She was far too intelligent for that, and besides that, she deserved to know the truth. "Yes, I am afraid something terrible has happened to him, but I cannot say what. I only know he has seen the face of Terror and lived, but I do not know his state of mind."  
  
"The face of Terror? His state of mind? What do you mean?"  
  
"I cannot even say that. All I can say is that four nights past his spirit-ki came screaming to me and clung to me in such a state of fear and terror that I myself thought I might succumb to the pain and die. Never in my life have I felt such a primitive fear." He looked into Kaoru's pale stricken face. "It was such a tremendously horrible fear that it the boy within him to seek out the only Father he had ever really known for comfort and protection… me. My boy came looking for me in the dark of his deepest most dreadful nightmares so I could chase away his fears." Hiko pressed his hands to his face to cover his emotions from the searching eyes of the young woman beside him.  
  
Kaoru was deeply moved by the big stern man's reactions to his own revelations. 'He loves Kenshin.' She thought to herself in amazed disbelief. 'He truly does. What a fool to hide it all these years.' She reached out and put a comforting hand on his broad shoulder. "We need to find him, don't we?" Her voice was matter-of-fact and plain.  
  
"We??" Hiko's voice was muffled behind his hands.  
  
"Yes." We. You do not think for a moment that I am going to let you go look for him without me do you?"  
  
"No," He sighed in resignation as he gazed into her determined clear blue eyes. "I do not suppose I do."  
  
"All right then. We both need to get some rest, especially you. You look terrible." She stood up and indicated for him to follow her. She led him to one of the spare rooms. "It is clean and the bedding should still be fairly fresh so make yourself at home. There is also still rice and vegetables in the cooking pots. Help yourself if you are hungry." She smiled blandly. "I am not a very good Hostess there days. I guess I have gotten used to it being just Kenshin and me living here, or just me. Sorry." She shrugged in apology.   
  
Hiko chuckled. "Do not worry about it Kamiya-dono. I can take care of myself. Thank you for the bed and the food. I will see you in the morning. We can talk more then. Hopefully a bit more rationally."  
  
"Indeed," She replied. "So do I. I have to think of something to tell Yahiko so he does not get worried or frightened."  
  
"The boy? What about the boy?"  
  
"He loves Kenshin. Though neither of them has ever said anything, Yahiko looks at Kenshin as his Father, and it would really shatter his life if anything happened to him. So I have to come up with a reason as to why you are here and why I am leaving with you."  
  
"Hmmmm. I see. Well, be careful what you say. That little brat is pretty smart. He may not buy just anything."  
  
"True." She agreed then walked away and disappeared into her room.  
  
'She is a very strong willed and spirited young woman.' Hiko thought to himself as he procured himself some food from the cold pots. 'She is exactly what Kenshin needs to stabilize his life and find the peace he should have had long ago. I hope he can see that and make it happen before it is too late.' Looking high into the night sky, Hiko called silently to his adopted son with his heart. 'Open your eyes, my son. See the beauty and love that sits in front of you. Reach out and pluck what is offered to you before it dies in the cold snows of winter.' Then he allowed his ki to join his heart and he reached for his son's tortured spirit and offered a piece of himself to help heal his wounds and bolster his lacking strength. "Accept this My Sotsu." He spoke clearly to the starlit sky. "Take this piece of my spirit-ki that I offer to you with all of the Father's love I have buried within my Heart. That same love that I have never been able to show you, but still lives on within me as strong as the day it was borne. Let me help you this night in the only way I can. Let me help you begin to grow strong again. Take my hand, and let me lift you up out of the sea of weakness." Then he closed his eyes and let his heart and soul soar through the heavens in search of the man who was the son of his true heart, and felt himself being drawn across the starlit sky.  
  
Far to the East in Kyoto Himura Kenshin was finally lying down on a real bed for the first time in too many weeks. The soft futon conformed to his aching tired body, and he felt like he was floating on feather down. A smile of pure contentment and pleasure curved his soft handsome mouth. He was in heaven at last after being in hell for so long. Letting loose a long purifying sigh, he allowed all of his muscles to relax and his mind to go blank.  
  
He was floating through the golden void. He mind was blessedly absent of all thought and form. Freedom from his emotional burdens and responsibilities has left him in a state of pure joy, and could feel the first beginnings of the strength in his ki restoring itself.  
  
As he takes himself though this necessary process, he becomes aware of another presence inside of his private haven. He realizes at once that he does not feel alarmed or angry by this intrusion, but his is very confused by it. It has been a lifetime since he has felt this particular ki mingle with his own, but it is undeniably familiar. The immense strength, the power, the pure elemental energy of the Aura leaves him in awe just as it always had. He opened his souls eyes and beheld this beautiful phenomenon, and witnessed it to be a huge ball of blue green light that pulsated and glowed with life and power. This incredible power and energy was being fed to his damaged ki like a mother's breast milk to a newborn baby, and he could feel its strength seeping into him and beginning to heal the deep wounds in his soul. It was making him stronger, and giving him a greater power and ability to shield and protect himself.  
  
It felt warm, safe, and secure inside his golden haven with the blue-green spirit-ki. He felt his own spirit and his soul snuggle down deep into that warmth as if it were a familiar and beloved quilt or… the arms of his… Father??!  
  
  
  
Kenshin's dark blue-purple eyes flew open in startled shock and he sat up quickly. What had he been doing just now? He brow crinkled in thought as he tried to remember. Oh yes, he was meditating. Well, sort of, he shrugged and allowed a half smile to touch his lips. He had been doing some deep relaxation, but something had happened while he was under the influence of the golden void. What had happened? He remembered floating in the void where he often went to restore himself, but then he had seen the blue-green ball of…  
  
"Master?" His eyes grew wide. "Was that really you? Were you REALLY here with me trying to help me?" Kenshin grew even more confused as he recalled the last sensation he had experienced. "Were you trying to comfort me? Master? Master??" His voice was but a whispered thought in the small room. Wide lavender eyes searched the room around him frantically as if he thought there might actually be someone in there with him. "Are you still here? Why did you come to me after all this time?" His voice faded on a chocked whisper as the threat of tears restricted his throat.  
  
"Are you still here? Father?!"  
  
Of course there was no verbal answer to his spoken pleas, but Kenshin could still feel the residual aura that belonged to his Master alone. It had been years on top of years since he had felt the ki of his Master, but there was no mistaking the power signature of Seijurou Hiko the 13th.  
  
A single tear slid down Kenshin's pale cheek as the understanding dawned on him. His Master HAD been here, and he had given his apprentice a very rare and valuable gift. He had given him a piece of his own living spirit-ki to help mend Kenshin's terribly damaged one.   
  
"But how did he know I needed help?" Kenshin could not understand. How would Master know what had been happening to him, and how badly damaged his ki was from the trauma he had witnessed on the mountain? Then he remember that horrible night out on the open plains when the visions had come to him and he had nearly lost his mind a second time because of the things he had seen. He remembered well the terror and hysteria that had gripped him within the nightmare and how he had curled up into a ball of screaming flesh both within and without the horrifying visions. What was it he had screamed so frantically before the bliss of oblivion had taken him away from all of that horror? What was it he had said over and over again? Kenshin's head bowed low and his brow knit together as he fought hard to remember what had happened to him in the last terrifying moment on the mountain, which were also the last moments of his nightmare.  
  
He could see himself in his minds eye laying on the black earth drenched with the sweat and tears of his own uncontrolled fear. He could see how he had curled up like a fetus in it's mothers womb as he tried to block out everything that had happened, and all the while he was screaming something over and over again. What was it? What was he saying? He concentrated hard, and then his whole body shook violently as the memory came back to him with the rush of a raging river.  
  
"I was screaming for HIM." Kenshin was screaming for his Master, for Hiko-san, and for… his Father. "I was crying out to my Father in terror like a lost child caught in a nightmare." Amber eyes filled with tears and his bowed again as his soul was seized by violent emotions. "I was a lost child caught in a nightmare, and I was reaching out to the only Father I knew begging him to hold me and protect me and keep me safe." His thin shoulders began to shake with silent sobs. 'Blessed Kami, did he hear me? Did he actually hear me cry and scream for him that night? Is this his answer to my pleading cries for help? This incredible gift of his ki?' Trembling hands covered a face wet with tears. "M-master," He cried softly into his hands. "Thank-you."  
  
Later that night as he drifted off to sleep, Kenshin spoke softly into the night. "Thank-you, My Beloved Father. Thank-you for coming. Even if you never acknowledge you have done this for me, you will forever be in my heart." 


	3. Yahiko's Argument

Well, it seems I have acquired a few followers, to whom I extend my total appreciation and humble gratitude for reading my fic and giving me good advice and lots and lots of much needed encouragement. THANKS GUYS! YOU ARE THE BEST. You know who you are… FBH, Zanshi, Kasadora. Because of you, I have decided to post chapter three. It is about Yahiko mostly. I have kept him in character, but I have also made him a little 'more' than his usual self.  
  
Important clarification for future reference---  
  
Kenshin's eyes glow amber when he is angry or very emotional. I decided it would be cool to extend that unique trait to a few other special people. But only a few, and only those with very powerful ki's that support such a change. I have used the change in eye color as an indication of that particular persons level of spirit-energy power, and each person has their own unique color signifying their own unique gift. Pay attention carefully because this is a very integral part of the fabric of the story. A lot of things will not make sense if you don't, because all of it becomes more than important when things get stickier in later chapters.  
  
Also be prepared for subtle shifts in some relationship dynamics. I took some deliberate liberties with the relations between many of the characters, and I warn you in advance, but they are also an important part of the weave that makes the magic of this concept work. I hope it will all become clearer later. Just try to be open minded.  
  
Standard Disclaimers apply. I do not own Ruroni Kenshin, it is owned and copy written by Jump comics, Inc. I just enjoy playing hooky with the characters. So please do not sue me. It is just harmless fun, and it keeps this one old lady out of trouble.  
  
  
  
Chapter Three  
  
Yahiko's Argument  
  
Several bags were packed and setting by the dojo door when Yahiko walked into the courtyard. He looked at them with deep curiosity. "Where is sensei going?" He wondered. "This is not a good time for her to leave. We just started the new class with all of those new students, and it would be totally stupid of her to take off right now." He scratched his head and looked around for his teacher. "I will just have to ask her what the hell she thinks she is doing. Sometimes I think I am more the teacher and she is the student. Sometimes she does the weirdest stuff and does not even think about it."  
  
He started wandering around the yard and looking into some of the more common places Kaoru could be. As he sauntered out of the kitchen, he collided with a huge solid and nearly immovable wall, except it was in the middle of the patio where there were not supposed to be any walls. Yahiko fell backwards landing hard on his backside. "Hey! Aaauggghh…. Uummmpphh!"  
  
"Well, if you would watch where you were going you stupid brat, you might be able to avoid such situations in the future." The deep voice was heavily laced with sarcasm and irritation.  
  
Yahiko was about to offer a heated retort when a very large hand grabbed a handful of the front of his light green gi and hauled him abruptly to his feet. "Hey, watch it!" He protested indignantly. "I was not expecting anyone to be right there because there is not supposed to be anyone else here except sensei. Ok, you big jerk! So get your big hairy fists off me… NOW!" The hand released him so quickly he stumbled and nearly fell down again. "Dammit!" He swore as he fought for his balance. Angry light brown eyes snapped with fury, and deepened in color to a reddish tinge. "Just who the hell do you think you are you big ape??!" His head whipped up and he met the irritated but amused dark green eyes of Kenshin's Master. "S-ss-seijurou Hiko?!" The name tumbled from his lips in astonishment and shock. "How did you get here?" The moment the question left his mouth he knew it was a foolish thing to say, but it was the first thing that had come to his stunned mind.  
  
"If you must know, I walked." The deep voice turned bland and bored at the same time mirroring the look on the large man's face.  
  
"Oh." Yahiko suddenly felt very stupid.  
  
"If you are looking for Kamiya-dono, she is still in her room. If you are trying to become part of the engowa, you are doing a fine job. If you want to ask me any more questions, GET ON WITH IT! I am hungry, and I have a lot of other things to do besides stand here and watch you let your mouth become a haven for every fly in Tokyo." He was scowling now and looking Yahiko directing in the eye by the time he finished, his face expectant. "Well…?"  
  
"Ummmm… uhhh…" Yahiko stammered for a moment then with great effort forced himself to meet the great man's gaze fiercely. He had never really liked Hiko in the first place; because of the way he had always treated Kenshin. "Look you, I do not know what you are doing here, but you are in MY home now, and I am in charge here. So I am gonna ask the questions not you, get it?"   
  
Hiko's right eyebrow raised with amused disdain as the boy continued his self-righteous tirade of self appointed Master of the dojo. "I want to know what the hell you are doing here, and why you are here, and I want to know now because if you are here to cause problems for Kenshin or Kaoru…" He let the unspoken threat hang in the air while his young face reflected the promise of quick and swift retribution for any wrongdoing.  
  
"Or what? You will do something about it?" The voice was filled with laughter, as Hiko looked the dark haired boy up and down. He knew the boy could fight since the battle at the Aoiya a year ago, but to make a threat like this was just too amusing. This boy was far too arrogant for his age and size, and it was going to land him into certain trouble. It was just like Kenshin not to have taken steps to have educated this brat on respecting his personal limitations as well as his superiors. He watched with continuing sardonic pleasure as the boy pulled himself up to his full height and then gracefully assumed a basic attack pose with one arm raised so he could pull his shinai free from its sheath on his back.  
  
"Yes, I would." The reply was cold, sure, and spoken with the voice of concentrated determination. "I will not let you hurt my family. Whatever I have to do, I will not let anyone hurt my family again, and you have done enough to Kenshin already. One day I will make you leave him alone."  
  
This response caused Hiko to pause and take another hard look at the dark haired boy. He caught a look of furious determination in those reddish tinted eyes as well as a glint of untamed wildness that reached out to him and pulled fiercely at his soul. It was very possible that this young boy could be a dangerous adversary if put into a life or death situation. He showed no fear, no backing down or giving in. Hiko could sense a relentlessness about him, and he slowly began to realize what was really standing in front of him.  
  
This was not just a boy of twelve. Neither was this just a boy who Kenshin and Kaoru had rescued from the streets given a home, and then trained in Kenjutsu in an effort to give him a sense of honor and belief in himself. No, what was standing in front of him was much, much more and far more dangerous than anyone realized.  
  
Hiko remembered Kenshin telling him Yahiko's father had been a Samurai who had fallen on hard times and died in disgrace as a thief. Also that his mother had ended up a prostitute in order to provide for her very small son and herself until she had died as well. Hiko had understood that Yahiko had been only four or five years old when his mother died, and that he had survived on the streets by whatever means he could until Kenshin and Kaoru found him. They had found him working as a pickpocket for a ring of thieves two years ago, and took him away from that too give him a chance at a real life.  
  
The boy had lived most of his life surviving by his wits, and he knew only that whatever was given him could easily be taken away unless he fought to keep it. There had been no one in his life to care for him, feed him, clothe him, keep him safe, or even hold him while he struggled with the daily battles of living. So he had grown up depending on no one but himself for whatever he needed. He was the only person he had to count on and he had never trusted anyone. The whole world had been his enemy, and he had grown into a wild animal living on the primitive instinct of survival.  
  
Kenshin had been the one to see the pride and promise of strength and honor within the boy's wild heart, and he had been the first one to get past the walls of protection Yahiko had built around himself. Kaoru had been the next one. Despite their constant arguing and disagreements, there was a very tight bond between Yahiko and his female sensei.  
  
Kenshin and Kaoru and this dojo really had become his ikka, and to him it was worth fighting for. Perhaps, even more than that.   
  
The wild animal that had grown up on the streets of Tokyo eating garbage, rats, and whatever else he could find; fighting for a place to sleep, a place to live, even the right to live had at last found a world to belong in, people who loved and wanted him, and a place he could always call his home. There was no real way to judge how he would react if that precious new found security were threatened in anyway. True, he was domesticated, but when faced with a potential loss of that magnitude, there was no telling what the wildling would do to protect it. Hiko began to understand Yahiko a little bit more.   
  
It was not arrogance that drove him. It was a deep bond of love and trust for the two people in his life that mattered the most to him. This was a child vowing to protect his parents even with his own life if necessary. Hiko felt a sense of respect developing for this fierce boy and his single-minded loyalties to those who had given him a chance at life.   
  
"All right, all right I believe you." Hiko replied in a quiet and respectful tone. "But I had no intention of hurting you or your family, boy. That is not what I came here for." A deep sigh escaped his chest and his broad shoulders appeared to sag in weariness.  
  
Yahiko gave Hiko a long measuring look then asked carefully, "All right, then what did you come here for? Kenshin is not here."  
  
"Yes, I know that. It is part of the reason I am here. I came to find out where he is. To see if Kamiya-dono knew anything of his whereabouts, because I do not know where he is either."  
  
Yahiko's young face creased with deep concern. "Why would YOU want to know? I mean you don't even like Kenshin? What is going on anyway? Why do you want to know where he is anyway?"  
  
"I need to find Kenshin quickly. It is very important that I do."  
  
"You already said that once. I want to know why? Are you gonna tell me or not?" The red tinged brown eyes widened in alarm as something else occurred to Yahiko. "Has something happened to him? He is alright, isn't he?" The young voice rose with increased anxiety and he took an involuntary step toward the big man. "Has he been hurt or something? You do not think he is… you do not think he is d-dead do you??" The boys voice cracked with emotion and his eyes searched Hiko's frantically.  
  
"Calm down, boy. Calm down before you convince yourself of something we have no idea about." Hiko put a steadying hand on the young boys shoulder. "I do not know what is going on yet, but I do know I need to find Kenshin as soon as I can. It is very important, but I don't think there is nothing to worry about at the moment." He knew he was trying to placate the boy to keep him from becoming too upset before he and Kamiya-dono had a chance to concoct some sort of a believable story to tell him about where they were going. There was no need to alarm him over this. That would only make matters worse.  
  
"Bullshit!! You are lying. I can tell you are." Yahiko threw Hiko's hand off his shoulder roughly. "I am not a stupid kid, you know. You do not have to feed me baby stories. If Kenshin is in trouble I want to know about it." Turning his back on Hiko, he snorted angrily and cursed under his breath. "I suppose Kaoru is going with you, isn't she. That is why there are so many bags setting by the dojo door. Looks like you're planning to be gone for quite awhile too."  
  
Sighing heavily with extreme exasperation, Hiko tried a different tactic. "Ok, so you are not a stupid kid. So what? That doesn't mean anything. Sometimes there are things you are better off not knowing about, and you should respect those who are in the position to know which decisions are best for you in such circumstance. Then you ought to try and be grateful for their assistance and that they even took the time to be concerned for your welfare at all."  
  
"I should respect those who know what is best for me… those in the position to make my decisions…" Yahiko's voice was deceptively soft as he turned away from the big Samurai. "Ok, and tell me, who is going to make those decisions for me?" Growling like a feral wolf, he suddenly whipped around glaring venomously at Hiko. "YOU? How in the hell do you know what is best for ME?" Trembling hands clenched themselves into tightly balled fists, and a muscle began to twitch violently along an otherwise smooth cheek. Light brown eyes fringed with long silky black lashes started to glow a deep cherry red that caught the morning sunlight and reflected outward like twin rubies, and the sound of his anger fed labored breathing filled the cool crisp air.  
  
'Dear God, I am looking at a wild animal.' Hiko thought warily to himself as his natural defensive instincts began to function in response as they sensed the growing presence of a dangerous and powerful ki starting to sizzle around him. 'I wonder,' He queried in his mind as he watched the escalating black rage storm through the boy. 'How much control does he have? Can he control it at all?' Hiko was not really afraid of Yahiko, but he could not ignore the feelings of apprehension the wild untamed ki provoked within him. 'Tremendous power, tremendous energy… Kami…" He whispered to himself in awe and wonderment.  
  
"Listen to me, boy…" Hiko tried to make his voice as gentle and calming as he could as he reached out for Yahiko's rational side, but he was forced back by the screaming rage and fury of the boys spirit-ki as it slammed into his chest like a great stone hammer. The big man visibly pulled back stunned by the powerful nonphysical attack.  
  
"I. AM. NOT. YOUR. BOY." Yahiko could feel the hold he had on his ki breaking as his anger flared, and he struggled to pull it back as much as he could. "My name is Myojin Yahiko, and you are not MY Master. Neither do you make decisions for me." He advanced threateningly on Hiko and the tall man felt compelled to take an involuntary step back. "Kamiya Kaoru is MY sensei, but…" His whole body shook with the force of the emotions rushing through him, and he clenched his hands into tight white fists in an effort to regain some control. "The only person who makes decisions for me in my life as important as this," He stopped and stood directly in front of Hiko and locked eyes with him. "Is Hiumra Kenshin! So, if Kenshin is in trouble, I want to know about it, and it is not your decision whether or not I should or should not know. Understand?" His voice ripped and rose on a high and powerful note sounding like the roar of a young lion, and then, as he forced the energy path away from Hiko, the wild thundering ki ripped and tore through the branches of the near by trees as if they were being shaken by some vicious malevolent hand bent upon their complete destruction.   
  
Hiko drew a deep breath of anticipation as he felt the energy surge around, past, and through him, but found himself unharmed. "Incredible," He breathed softly to himself in awe. "Pure, absolute power. Pure untapped energy, but he has such little control." A hooded respectful gaze rested on the young mans' head. "Oh but if he had true control… what a warrior he could be. What a magnificent swordsman."   
  
Yahiko closed his eyes and took several slow deep breaths in an effort to calm himself. He had let his emotions gain control over him again. He had to learn to be their Master like Kenshin had been teaching him. Well, at least he had not gone after Hiko-san with his shinai.  
  
After taking several more breaths, his breathing returned to a more normal pace and he was able to unclench his fists. "I am in control." He said firmly to himself. Then he locked gazes with Hiko again. The rage remained reflected in his eyes, but it was now more subdued and he were in a more rational state of mind. "Now, tell me what is happening to Kenshin? It is my right to know, and I will not let you keep it from me."  
  
Hiko had to admit he was impressed with the young man. Not only did he have an incredibly powerful ki that could serve him impressively in the future, but also it appeared Kenshin had been teaching him how to control the more negative aspects of it. At least to the point of not letting it explode like a bomb in his face. Hiko also regretted to admit that his respect for the wildling was continuing to grow.  
  
"All right, but you keep a grip on that temper of yours' or you and I are going to have a big problem. Got it?" Narrow emerald eyes pierced Yahiko's meaningfully. "You owe me the respect due me as Kenshin's Master whether you like me personally or not. That is the Code of Honor of the Samurai since the beginning."  
  
Cherry red eyes narrowed slightly, then Yahiko pulled himself into a straight stance and bowed in deep respect to the Mitsurugi Master. "Forgive me, Hiko-san. You are right. Kenshin would be really angry if he knew I had been disrespectful to his Master." It was a stiff but reasonably sincere apology.   
  
Hiko nodded in acceptance. "Very well. Come with me." He said, and walked into the kitchen. "I am still hungry and you interrupted my venture for food. We will talk while I eat."  
  
Kaoru had seen many things in the last two years that had surprised her, but few equaled seeing Seijurou Hiko and Myojin Yahiko setting together at the small table talking together like men. She blinked and rubbed her eyes several times just to make sure that she was really seeing what she thought she was seeing, but each time she opened them, the two were still there leaning towards each other in deep conversation.  
  
"Well, this is certainly a surprise." She quipped in her most cheerful voice. "Good morning, Hiko-san. Yahiko, what brings you to the dojo this bright morning? We do not have classes today. Are you hungry?" She asked as she went into the kitchen humming lightly.  
  
"Boy, she is really putting on a good show." Yahiko muttered under his breath.  
  
"Of course," Hiko replied. "We were not going to tell you anything other than we had to go to Kyoto. We just had not come up with the reason for the trip yet." He shrugged off handedly.  
  
"Oh, I see. Keep the kid in the dark while you two go off to look for Kenshin by yourselves. Why does everybody think I am so dumb? Sheesh."  
  
"I don't know? Why?" Hiko chuckled at his own joke while Yahiko glared daggers at him.  
  
"I was not really expecting an answer you big jerk."  
  
Kaoru reappeared out of the kitchen with a plate of leftovers and joined the two of them at the table. "So, what have the two of you found to talk about this morning? Anything interesting?" She smiled and bit into some cold fruit her eyes wide innocent pools of dark blue.  
  
"You can stop the act, Kamiya-dono. I told the kid everything."  
  
"You WHAT??" She screeched spewing half chewed food out of her mouth. "What do you mean you told him everything? Just exactly WHAT did you tell him? Her hands were frantically wiping her mouth and kimono.   
  
"Just what I said, Kamiya-dono. I told the kid everything. He insisted, so I told him."  
  
"Just like that? You told him just like that? I thought we had decided that he would be better off not knowing? Isn't that what you said? He would be better off not knowing that anything was wrong?" Her anxious glance raked her stern angular face with mystified accusation.  
  
"Yes. I did say that, but Myojin-san has informed me quite vehemently that neither you nor I are permitted to make those sort of decisions for him."  
  
"Wha-a-aa… what did you say?" Her outraged blue gaze turned it burning sapphire glare onto Yahiko who met it without flinching.  
  
"Yes quite. It appears the only person he will listen to under such circumstances as these," He paused and looked at Yahiko, then locked gazes with Kaoru. "The only person he will acknowledge is Kenshin."  
  
Silence descended around the table, and hung like a heavy blanket over the three people setting there. Only Yahiko seemed to be completely unaffected by the impact of Hiko's statement to Kaoru. She on the other hand sat in a state of complete speechless shock; stunned beyond words. All she could do was sit and look at her pale trembling hands.  
  
Several minutes passed before Kaoru could do anything. First, she cleared her throat and swallowed loudly. Then she took several deep shaky breaths. At last she was ready to look at her two companions. "Well," She began in a tremulous voice. "I guess that is that. Where does that leave us now? Yahiko? Since you will not acknowledge the authority of anyone here, what are you planning to do?" There was a sound of resigned defeat in her voice that made the young man look at her in uncertainty.  
  
"Kaoru?" He sounded confused and concerned. "What is the matter?"  
  
"Yahiko," A small sad smile curved her lovely mouth. "You have just declared yourself to be beyond my control and authority which means I cannot tell you what to do anymore. I cannot even really be involved in the decisions you make. You have declared your independence from me and shut me out of your life."  
  
Bowing his head low, Yahiko considered the gravity of what she had just said in reference to the words he had actually spoken to Hiko earlier, and the impact they were having on their relationship. His eyes widened in alarm as he realized exactly what he had said and exactly what it meant. 'Oh no…' He cried out in his mind. 'What did I do?'  
  
"Umm…. Kaoru," His voice sounded very young and it was filled with a note of dread as he instinctively leaned towards her, but she cut him off by raising her hand.  
  
"Perhaps it is time I stopped treating you like a child. You are twelve now and becoming more and more a man everyday. Maybe it is the day for you to start making your own choices. It is just so hard for me to let go my Yahiko-chan." She heaved a great shuddering sigh, then looked up at him and forced a smile. "Kenshin has trusted you with so many things; so many grown up man-type responsibilities in the past. If he thinks you are capable, I suppose it is time that I must start believing in you as well."  
  
Yahiko bowed his head to the dark haired woman kneeling beside him unable to say a word. There was a huge lump in his throat that seemed to be preventing him from speaking or even making the smallest of sounds.  
  
"So, tell me, my young Man," Her hands gently brushed his hair away from his temple. "What is your decision? What are you going to do about all of this now that you know what we know? Now that you know something has happened to Kenshin, and that he is in some sort of trouble, even though we do not know what. All we do know is Saitoh sent him to investigate something in the Taki Mountains. It was something that upset him a great deal, but we do not even know what that was, but none of that changes the fact that we have to find him. Somehow, we have to find him." Her hand was gentle on his head. Loving as she was sometimes when he allowed her to be. "So, tell me. What is your decision?"  
  
As the scene unfolded before him, Hiko watched the interaction between the young woman and the boy carefully. He had been wondering what would happen when Kamiya-dono discovered the boy was aware of Kenshin's dilemma, but this particular twist in events was nothing close to what he had been expecting. It seemed this day and these people were just full of surprises for him. He hid a slight smile of pleasure behind his teacup.  
  
When Yahiko finally found his voice, it was a low and gruff sound in his throat, but it was clear, and firm with the depth of his determination. "I am going with you." He replied and raised his eyes to meet the glittering sapphire points of the woman he respected most in the world. "I am going to go and help you find him, and no one can stop me from doing that. He means as much to me as he does to you." Kaoru lock eyes with him and listened. "Kenshin is the only Father-like person I have, and I am not going to set here and do nothing if he is out there in trouble somewhere."  
  
"All right, Yahiko but do you understand that this journey may be more dangerous than anything we have every faced before? It could very well be more dangerous than anything we saw fighting Shishio or Enishii. We do not know what kind of trouble Kenshin is in. Only that it is very bad, and he needs our help. We do not even know what we will be facing, and there is a possibility some of us could die. Do you understand that? You could die if you go."  
  
"It does not matter, Kaoru. If it were you are me, do you think Kenshin would be thinking about how dangerous it was or whether or not he was going to die?"  
  
"Probably not." She looked down at her cold clenched hands and closed her eyes against that terrifying thought.  
  
"Well, it does not matter to me either. It is all about Kenshin this time. He has never once given in or given up on any of us, and I will be damned if I am going to give up on him. I will die before I every give up. Do you hear me, Kaoru? I will die first before I ever give up on Kenshin!" The audible click of his teeth could be heard as he clenched his jaw in an effort to control his raging emotions. Then he drew in a deep ragged breath. "You and him are all I have, and I am not gonna lose either one of you. So, I am not letting you leave without me today. Got it?" A single hot tear slid down his stony face leaving a wet pathway to his jaw. "Kenshin told me it was my responsibility to take care of you for him while he was away, and if you leave, the only way I can do that is to go with you. So, do not waste your breath trying to make me stay behind because it won't do you any good." Yahiko had to clear his throat before he could continue. "But I want you to know something else. I want you to know that I am also going so I can protect you for myself. I am not going to let anything happen to you either, Kaoru. If I have to, I will protect you with my life even if it means losing it. I will die before I let anything happen to you just the same as I would for Kenshin."  
  
Having said everything he needed to say, Yahiko stood up from the small table and walked away, but then he stopped and turned part way around. "I will be back as fast as I can. I only need to pack a few things." Then he left quietly through the front gate and ran down the street heading for his room near the Akabeko where he had been living ever since Sanoske had left a year ago. The big man had left Japan to avoid capture by the Police after an incident that occurred during the fight with Enishii, and no one had heard from him for many months.  
  
For several long silent moments, Kaoru remained kneeling at the table. Her face was a mask of pain as she tried to control the uprising wave of deep emotions rushing through her. A delicate hand rose to press against quavering lips as she struggled to fight back the sobs that threatened to burst from her chest, but the tears she could not hold back. They ran in twin streams down her cool pale cheeks and would not be stopped. "Yahiko…" She whispered his name once, and lost the fragile control she had. As the great heart wrenching sobs rose to consume her small frame, Hiko gently put an arm around her shoulders and held her to his shoulder and let her cry.  
  
"Listen to me, jou-chan. He is a fierce and courageous boy. He has the survival instinct he developed growing up on the streets living by his own wits, and he is not a foolish boy. The extreme hardships of his past life have made him stronger than any other boy his age. Hell, he may be stronger than any of us. My point is, he will endure. He is highly intelligent and I do not believe he will be careless." Hiko looked down at Kaoru's face and found her resting quietly against him listening to his explanation. "He grew up a wildling in the streets, and those primitive instincts are better developed than his domestic human side. I can see in his heart that you were right when you said he sees Kenshin as his father whether he has really admitted it to himself or not. The primitive bond between offspring and parent is one of the strongest in the Universe, so if Yahiko has decided to go in search of his Father, neither you nor I will be able to stand in his way. He will walk right over the top of us." He patted her shoulder in an attempt to be reassuring and comforting though it was very awkward for him. "One can never tell, we may need his unique strength and gifts on our journey before it is finished, and you must keep your faith and resolve, jou-chan." A large brown hand softly tilted her chin up so he could look into her face. "We will all need your steadfastness and strength of will to keep us focused on our goal, and Kenshin will need your strength to give him strength. Do not lose your path to despair, Kamiya-dono." Gently he wiped her tears away, and nodded to her. "Come, we must finish our preparation. We need to leave as soon as Myojin-san returns." Kaoru nodded in agreement and stood to clear the dishes and uneaten food from the table.  
  
She sniffled while she busied herself with the mundane chore. "It will only take me a few moments, and I will be finished. I just need to pack provisions and some water. I will be done soon." She was rambling and she knew it, but it really could not be helped. After all it had been a very emotional morning.  
  
As she carried her burdens into the wash area to be cleaned, something interesting but very strange dawned on her. Hiko had referred to Yahiko as Myojin-san. In fact, the more she thought about it, he had called him that twice.  
  
"Hmmmm. I wonder what happened between the two of them this morning before I showed up? It must have been pretty serious if Hiko-san is using that honorific on Yahiko. I guess this means I cannot call him Yahiko-chan or ishii anymore." A stray tear slid down her face, and she wiped it away with the back of her hand shaking her head in dejection. "He has grown up way too fast. Was he ever really a chibi-chan in his whole life?" Sad sapphire eyes looked absently out the window. "I guess it is too late for him to be one now. He has chosen the pathway of a man today so he can go to Kyoto with Hiko-san and I. He is determined to help us find Kenshin no matter what it takes." Another tear slid off the tip of her nose and fell unheard to the floor.  
  
"Kenshin… where are you my love? What is happening to you? Do you know how much I worry about you, and how much I love you?" Kaoru sniffled again and wiped her nose. "No. Of course you don't know. I have never told you how I feel about you. I have never told anyone. It has been my little secret to keep hidden away in the privacy of my heart where no one will ever see it." Quiet sobs began to shake her narrow shoulders, and her hands rose to cover her face. "Oh Kenshin, I promise if we ever find you, koishii, I will tell you. I do not care what else happens. I don't even care if you do not love me back in the same way, and I don't care if all we do is stay the friends we are. All I do care about is I have to tell you the truth." She wiped her face on the sleeve of her blue kimono and sniffled again. "I cannot let another moment go by without you knowing that I love you more than anything else in this world. I will not take another chance of something happening to you again. Something that could take you away from me forever without you ever knowing how I felt about you. I will not let that happen again. I cannot."  
  
Desperately she tried to regain control over her emotions and stop the sobs and the tears. "I have enough things to do." She admonished herself. "I don't have time for this." Clenching both hands into tight balls, she slammed her emotions down beneath an iron fist of intense concentration, and left the kitchen to finish packing and cleaning up loose ends. There were too many things that required her full attention if she were going to be of any use to Kenshin at all. "I must maintain my control… for Kenshin's sake I must not let him down, not now that he needs me. It is my turn to be strong for him, and I have to remember that" Her chin rose in determination and her eyes glinted with the fire of her spirit. "It is my turn."   
  
************  
  
By the time the sun was high in the sky, the part of three were well on their way back to Kyoto. Kaoru had insisted on buying tickets for the next available ship arguing that it was plain stupidity to walk when they had the means to get to their destination so much quicker. Yahiko had strongly advised Hiko to just agree with her after he and Kaoru exchanged heated words for more than an hour.  
  
"She won't change her mind, Hiko-san. She is more stubborn than your Spinster Aunt. I wouldn't put it past her to stand right here on the dock all day and refuse to leave until you agree to do what she wants. So you might as well save yourself a whole lot of grief and just give in now and do it."  
  
Hiko had not liked that idea at all, but after wasting so much time trying to convince Kaoru that it was more frugal to save money for later needs, he could finally see the wisdom of Yahiko's words. At last he agreed and they set sail early that afternoon.  
  
"You see, Hiko-san." Kaoru smiled smugly. "Now we will be in Kyoto in four days instead of ten or eleven. A much better idea." An elegantly curved black eyebrow arched expectantly at him. "Don't you agree?"  
  
He chuckled in defeat. "Of course. If I must admit defeat in battle, even a battle of words and wills, then let it be to a beautiful woman and not a toothless old man or a babe in swaddling."  
  
"Hmmmm, I'm not sure if that is a compliment or not, but I am going to take it as one." She smiled into his mocking face and walked over to the railings to watch the waves as they rolled and raced away behind the ship. "It's so beautiful… the water." Looking over a slender shoulder, Kaoru shared a rare introspective look with Hiko. "It looks like liquid glass to me. The sea and the waves have always fascinated me. I have loved to watch them ever since I was a child. When I was a little girl and I would travel with my parents, I would stand on the deck and watch them for hours and hours wondering where they came from, what faraway places and wonders each of them had seen, what hidden treasures and secrets they knew." Soft melodious laughter reached Hiko's ears as he moved to stand beside her. "Sounds pretty silly doesn't it."  
  
"No, not really. The Ocean is the lifeblood of the Earth. She is the Mother of all life that walks, swims, and flies as well." Kaoru turned and looked at him in stunned surprise as he continued to speak. "The Ocean is as old as Time itself, and harbors all the knowledge and intelligence of the spirits that have lived and died in the Universe and within Her depths. Each grain of sand is said to be the residue left from each solitary thought that has ever passed through the Ethereal Plane of each minds soul." Leaning his head back, Hiko filled his lungs with a deep breath of the cool salty breeze, and then let it out in a slow cleansing stream as he relaxed. "She is purity, and filth; truth and lies; dignity and humility; She is all things, and She is nothing." Turning to his side, he looked down into Kaoru's deep blue eyes thoughtfully, and touched a roughened finger gently to her soft pale cheek. "When you compared Her to liquid glass, it was a beautiful and excellent observation, for She is forever changing yet She stays the same. All things can be reflected upon Her surface like a perfect mirror, yet lost forever underneath Her ever shifting body of waves."  
  
Hiko's emerald eyes searched the sky until he pointed out the faraway silhouette of a bird winging its way over the rolling waves in an age old dance of grace and eloquence as it searched for food above the unpredictable rise and fall of the dark waters. "She feeds thousands the world over both above and below Her surface, provides passage for our great ships, and links valuable trade route together providing us with a better quality of life." He dropped his gaze back down to Kaoru's face. "You asked what secrets and treasures these waves hold, what wonders they have seen? Look at them, Kamiya-dono." He waved his large hand in a wide sweeping arch across the expanse of endless water before them. "Listen to them speak… and they will answer your question." Hiko paused and closed his dark eyes in deep concentration for several moments. Kaoru stood unmoving next to him as she found herself completely captivated by a side of him she had never seen. She could not tear her eyes away from his face.  
  
"They have seen the whole world, Kamiya-dono." He whispered and locked eyes with her. "And they know all things, but they are selfish and stingy with their wisdom. Knowledge must be earned, and the Ocean is a cruel teacher. She takes everything, and offers nothing in return except what you can see." Leaning over slightly, he smiled into the rapt face of the young woman beside him. "And as you have observed for yourself, there is little to nothing to be learned from liquid glass when you cannot see through it or into it."  
  
Kaoru's whole face what shining with delight and wonder. Her eyes were sparking like huge blue diamonds as they caught the reflection of the afternoon Sun bouncing off the surface of the water. "That was amazing!" She exclaimed with excitement. "I have never heard the Ocean described in that way. You make it sound so mysterious and alive almost as if it were an Entity with a living soul of it's own." Blue eyes filled with awe cast their gaze out across the vast expanse of rolling waves, and a smile of pure joy crossed her lovely features. "Maybe She does have Her own soul. Everything you said makes perfect sense to me." The smile she wore held just a hint of mocking humor as he threw a sidelong look up at her tall companion. "I didn't realize you were a philosopher, Hiko-san, and not just the Hiten Misturugi Ryu Master."  
  
"Well, I do know a few other things beside just the Hiten Mitsurugi." They smiled together at her playful jab at his intelligence quotient, and stood for a while longer watching the waves as they splashed and crashed against the hull of the ship.  
  
"Are we going to be in time, Hiko-san?" Kaoru's voice was low and thoughtfully honest.  
  
"To help Kenshin?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I hope so, Kamiya-dono. I sincerely hope so." His statement was followed by a poignant pause.   
  
"Hiko-san?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"May I ask you a question?" She carefully looked at his profile to judge his reaction to her request. "It is something I would really like to know, but if you don't answer, I will understand."  
  
Raven black eyebrows raised questioningly at her as he glanced sideways and down into her intent face. "Yes, you can ask whatever you wish, but, as you said, if I do not wish to answer the question, I will not."  
  
Kaoru nodded her understanding and acceptance of his agreement to her terms, and then drew a steadying breath to gather her courage. Asking this particular question was going to be difficult, but the wanting to know was really starting to drive her insane. She had to know the answer, so turning to look directly at the large man standing next to her; Kaoru opened her mouth and asked the question.  
  
"Why is it so important to you that you find Kenshin?"  
  
"What?" Hiko was completely caught off guard and the incredulity in his dark eyes and deep voice showed it. "What do you mean, why is it so important to me? What are you getting at, Kamiya?" His eyes narrowed and took on an eerie yellowish-green cast. "Just exactly what are you asking me?"  
  
"It is a simple question, Hiko-san." She turned and faced him fully, and leaning her elbow on the steel railing, met his fiercely confused gaze calmly. "Why do you feel such a strong need to find him, so much so that you would come all the way to Tokyo to me?" Brushing an unseen spot of dirt off her blue kimono, Kaoru gave Hiko a moment to gather himself. "It confuses me because you have always held him in such a state of low esteem and disdain, that I cannot understand why your are expending so much effort to find him… even if he is in obvious dire need of your help."  
  
Hiko suddenly felt like a mouse trapped in a corner by a very large hungry cat, and he could not see an escape from his impending doom anywhere in the near vicinity. She was looking at him with those huge midnight blue pools, and he knew he had lost this confrontation as well.  
  
"I really don't know what you're talking about." He was trying desperately to evade her, and looked back out over the water hoping she would take the hint. "He is my deshi. I raised him. Of course there are some leftover feelings of responsibility to help him in times such as these, and that is all I am doing. Helping him." A sidelong glance checked to see if she was accepting his hollow explanation, but her features were closed and unreadable. "I am still Kenshin's Master. Thus it remains my duty to try and protect him if he makes some stupid mistake that could get him killed. Surely you understand that. I cannot just stand by and do nothing."  
  
"Uh-huh… it never seemed to be an issue for you in the past. You were more than willing to let him jump in and out of trouble whatever the consequences without so much as lifting a finger." Her soft feminine voice mocked him sourly.  
  
"What is that you're saying?" Yellow-green eyes blazed down on Kaoru's bland face, but she did not even appear to notice.  
  
"I am really trying to believe you, Hiko-san. I truly am, but there are so many holes in your explanation that this ship could practically sail right through them." She heaved a heavy disgusted sigh, and met his angry look with stony blue eyes. "Tell me, how long do you intend to lie to me? Further more, how long do you intend to lie to yourself?"  
  
Backing away from her in astonished surprise, Hiko felt his anger melting away only to be replaced by his own shame.   
  
What did she think she knew? No one knew anything. No one had ever known anything. Hiko suddenly had the uncanny feeling that he was standing in front of Kaoru totally naked, and it was a very uncomfortable and vulnerable feeling. Something the Hiten Mitsurugi Master was not used to and did not care for at all. He could feel his anger beginning to return.   
  
A muscle started to twitch violently in his jaw as he clenched his teeth together, and his eyes narrowed into furious slits. "Are you certain you know what you are talking about…. Jou-chan? Few have ever dared call me a liar, and even fewer of those are still breathing air in this world. Be very careful." His furiously tense frame swung away from her to face the Ocean while both hands gripped the railing viciously, turning his knuckles white.  
  
"Impressive," Her voice was flat and emotionless in the wake of his anger. "I suppose that little tirade was supposed to frighten me back into submission and silence. Well, I hate to tell you this, Hiko-san, but I am not afraid of you."  
  
Kaoru watched his shoulders stiffen in response to her matter-of-fact words, but he did not speak. "Is it really so difficult to admit that the reason you are so determined to find Kenshin is because you love him?" Because you are worried sick something terrible has happened to him, and he might be hurt? Because deep inside that stone you call your heart, he is as much your sotsu as you are his otan in his? Does not admitting it make it any less true?" She watched watch closely, but could see no further response from the big man. In desperation of reaching him, Kaoru laid her hand on Hiko's arm and pushed farther.  
  
"Are you that ashamed of him? Or are you ashamed of yourself and the fact that you do love him? Or is it BOTH?" Blue eyes intently searched his hard stern profile. "Are you afraid loving him will make you look weak or foolish in the eyes of others, or in your own? Does loving him mean you lose the battle? Does it mean you gave in first, and you cannot allow that to happen? Why in the name of Kami-sama can't you let yourself love him? Why is that such a terrible thing in your eyes? Hiko-san??"  
  
Still he remained unmoving, unresponsive. He no longer even showed any signs that he was listening to her other than the furious twitching of the muscle in his jaw and the white knuckled grip on the steel rail.  
  
"Fine," She said at last, and released his arm. "Ignore me, ignore the world, ignore your son, but mark my words, Seijurou Hiko, the day will come to you that you will no longer be able to deny what you have buried in your heart. What will you do then, Great Samurai of the Old World? Will you still be able to hide behind a wall of arrogance and pride? Will the insurmountable mountain of your stubbornness save you from the inevitable, or will you become one of the long-suffering souls who lives plagued with guilt the rest of your life? Will you be one of those who kneels on the ground next to the grave of your son as you cry empty tears of sorrow and regret because you never took the chance in life to tell him you loved him, and now you never can." Her voice cracked on a sob of emotion as her feelings got the better of her. "You never can and never will because it is too late, he is already dead and lost to you, and not once did you hold him in your arms and whisper what was in your heart all his life." Kaoru drew a ragged breath and wiped her nose. "Have you ever considered that this is something that could happen? That you could lose him…forever?" 'I am not reaching him," She thought sadly to herself and turned to walk away, but then stopped after only a few steps.  
  
"You should think about that, Hiko-san. Is that worth your Pride and Arrogance? Knowing that Kenshin could die and leave this world before you, and you never took the chance to hold him to your heart even once. Just how high of a price is that to pay for your Pride?"  
  
She left him then, standing alone leaning on the steel railing and staring out across the endless rolling water with unseeing eyes. When Kaoru did not see, what the hint of glistening moisture he frantically tried to blink away from his burning eyes.  
  
"Ken-shin…" The broken whisper of the man's name was lost inside the whirling moistness of the salty breeze that had risen from the rolling water to wash away all of the unspoken secrets hanging in the air, and leaving behind only the memories of a breaking heart. 


	4. A Hearts Determination

Well, here is chapter four, finally. It has taken me a while to get it transfer over to my other computer. Don't ask, its a long story. Anyway, all things being equal, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter because manipulating men's personalities is a grand pass time. I love Hajime Saitoh and Seijrurou Hiko. They are both such arrogant ass's that I had to get them together in the same room just to see what would happen. Now there's an interesting relationship (winks).  
  
I hope you like it. Enjoy it, I did when I wrote it.  
  
Standard disclaimers apply. Blah Blah Blah, big word, little word, Blah Blah Blah.  
  
Chapter Four  
  
A Heart's Determination  
  
Frost was clinging to the trees and bushes like elegant strings of fragile glass as it glinted and sparkled in the early morning sunshine. The delicate beauty of it was a rare wonder, but it would only last a short time as the Earth began to warm beneath the glowing ball of fire in the sky. Saitoh shivered as a chill ran up his rod-straight spine and ended up making his teeth chatter in a most undignified manner. Swearing under his breath, he sat down stiffly behind his desk and pulled a stack of paperwork towards him.  
  
"Too bloody cold for August. Too bloody cold." He muttered as he scanned the most recent crime reports Izukia had put on his desk before leaving yesterday evening. To his sharp yellow eyes it appeared that the number of street muggings and rape were still on the rise, but burglary and murder were on the decline. Ever since the dissolution of the last government's hooker's, and the introduction of the countrywide ban on carrying swords (unless the individual were a law enforcer or a bodyguard), the rate of murders had been drastically reduced.  
  
The smell of sulfur drifted around the room as Saitoh struck a match to light one of his customary cigarettes. He was lost in deep concentration within a very detailed report concerning the vicious rape and beating mutilation of a young woman, and he was smoking out of pure habit. It seemed that the young woman had been found underneath one of the more remote river bridges naked and nearly dead three days ago. She had sustained a broken arm, collarbone, multiple cuts, bruises, and severe abrasions. However, the most disturbing thing was that she had been found tied both hand and foot with her bottom lip carefully cut away, and the blade used to do it was inserted hilt first inside of her torn and ravaged womanhood.  
  
Saitoh took a deep drag from the spent cigarette and dropped the stub on the floor while he poured over the rest of the odd details of the report.  
  
The girl was the youngest daughter of a local jewelry shop owner who had been in business since before the Meiji had begun over ten years ago. He was well known for his unique work with precious stones and crystals, as well as metals, but what was not commonly know about, was he had hidden affiliations with several European trade companies. Each of these companies specialized in all kinds of foreign religious artifacts from different countries including Ireland, England, and Spain where devil worship and demon possession were known to occur. People said to be nonstsu, or bewitched had been burned at the stake and put to death by other means of torture for performing evil rituals and ceremonies designed to summon the Devil himself. Saitoh thought he had heard those people referred to as 'witches and warlocks' in those countries.   
  
The report was completely incredible to Saitoh. It was almost unbelievable. The cold air of coincidence it had in connection to the stories Battousai had told him was almost too frightening to consider. He found himself wondering if there could somehow be a connection between the two. Could the old jeweler have something to do with the goings on in the Taki Mountains? If so, why would his daughter be targeted for something so terrible? Maybe the old man had screwed up and this was his retribution for whatever offense he had committed. Saitoh frowned and lit another cigarette absently and began to smoke it almost immediately. If it was not a coincidence, then it was all awfully damned strange. He sat the report off to the side and pulled a bland piece of paper out of his desk drawer along with ink and a slim brush, and started to make notes of facts he felt were significant in the report. These were the things he would discuss with Battousai when they met later that week.  
  
Battousai had wanted to leave for the mountains right away after he and Saitoh had decided what had to be done, but Saitoh had refused saying that the other man desperately needed time to recuperate and regain his strength. He had forcefully reasoned that Battousai's weakened state would render him almost useless and put them both in unnecessary danger. In the end, Kenshin had reluctantly agreed with Saitoh's logic. It was foolish to go back and face what he knew was waiting for them without his full strength. He would never survive a full confrontation as he was now. The horror of it would surely kill him, and that would leave Saitoh to face the depths of Hell alone, and he could not allow that. So he had agreed to a minimum of two to three weeks to heal his body by gaining back the weight and strength he has lost, renewing the reviving the power of his ki, and shoring up his personal resolve and confidence. He had to find his faith now. He had to find his way to Kami-sama and Buddha because he could not face these kage alone even with Saitoh at his side.  
  
"I can't believe it is so cold." Yahiko's teeth chattered loudly as he and his two silent companions disembarked the ship and entered the docks of Kyoto. "Is it always like this in August, Hiko-san? This feels more like the middle of autumn that the end of summer." He shivered and rubbed his arms trying to warm them up with a little personal friction to the blood moving.  
  
"No, Myojin-san. It is not usually like this." Hiko glanced around the semi-deserted pier noticing the melting frost of the eves of the buildings and the stacks of boxes and barrels scattered about. "It is usually still very warm about now, and I have never seen frost this early in the year before. Never." His big fingers touched one of the fragile ice webs and it disintegrated immediately. "This is all very, very strange." Then he motioned for Kaoru and Yahiko to follow him. "Come with me, the weather is the least of our concerns at the moment. We need to find and speak to Hajimi Saitoh as soon as possible. He WILL tell us where Kenshin is even if I have to… encourage him." The implied threat hung in the air as cold as the breeze that bit through their too thin clothing. "I am finished chasing my own ass. I want some answers, and I want them TODAY!" There was a hard fury about him that caused both Kaoru and Yahiko to keep a fair distance behind him as they marched along the dock and then upon to the main road.  
  
"Geez, what's with him?" Yahiko asked very quietly when he was sure Hiko would not hear him.  
  
"I'm not totally sure." Kaoru began then stopped herself. "Hmmm…"  
  
"Nani?" Yahiko looked at her expectantly when he noticed the thoughtful expression on her face.  
  
"Well, I said some things to him the first day we were on the ship about why he was so set on finding Kenshin when it never seemed to matter much to him before. You know, I told him how confused I was that he was so determined to find him because I was under the impression, he didn't even like him."  
  
"Ok, but Kaoru, I am not following you. What are you getting at?"  
  
"Hiko-san," Her blue gaze looked gently at the young man walking beside her. "He loves Kenshin, Yahiko."  
  
"Wh-what? Are you kidding me?! That guy couldn't love anything but himself. In fact, I don't think he even has a heart to love anything with." Yahiko snorted in disbelief and disgust. "That's just plain bullshit, Kaoru, and you know it. Besides, he treats Kenshin like shit most of the time."  
  
"I know, but you're wrong. Hiko-san has a heart; it is just buried really deep inside of him. I think he has a great heart, but he does not know how to share what is inside of it with anyone. He is a great man, and a great Samurai Warrior who has lived his life by the sword, not by his heart. It is very difficult for him to admit any emotion especially love."  
  
The younger man frowned. "I guess… maybe, but he treats Kenshin like dirt under his feet. If he loves him, why does he do that?"  
  
"Perhaps to unconsciously protect himself."  
  
"Protect himself? From what?"  
  
"I don't know. Only Hiko-san knows that, and then again, maybe he does not even know the answer to that question. However, I do know one thing for sure about him."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Inside his heart…inside his deepest heart, Kenshin is his satsu."  
  
"His satsu?? Kaoru, do you know what you're saying? You're saying that Hiko-san loves Kenshin like his… his…"  
  
"Like his very own son, Yahiko. He loves Kenshin like his only and most beloved son. His satsu. That is why it is so important and so critical for him to find Kenshin. Do you understand now? Think about it."  
  
Yahiko digested this information and considered it for a few more minutes as they walked through the streets of Kyoto behind the very subject they were discussing. He let his gaze shift to the large frame of the man walking in from of them, and noticed how determined and unrelenting his stride was as his long legs ate up the distance making them walk-run to keep up. The man was on a mission there was no denying that, and it was a mission of tremendous import because it drove him forward with such a single minded purpose. To find Kenshin. Kaoru was right. These were the actions of a Father determined to find his only son. "A Father who 'loves' his son." Yahiko admitted to himself. He allowed a deep sigh to escape him, and then he met Kaoru's eyes.  
  
"Yes, I do think I understand, but Kaoru?"  
  
"Yes, Yahiko?"  
  
"It really is creepy thinking of Hiko-san being able to do anything but be an asshole. You know?" A devilish half smile crossed his face causing Kaoru to burst into laughter punching him playfully in the shoulder.  
  
"Yahiko!" She admonished him in mock severity. "That is really very unkind." But she still could not help but laugh.  
  
Ahead of them Hiko could only wonder what was so funny that it would make the usually reserved Kaoru laugh so uncharacteristically. Shrugging to himself, he knew it could be anything considering she was still an impressionable jou-chan. He smiled despite himself. She really was quite a woman. A handful to tell the truth, and in a way, he envied Kenshin her love for him, but in another way, he was glad she was Kenshin's problem and not his.  
  
Women. They were an unnecessary frivolity of life. He enjoyed them when he wanted to, but he had never wanted one of his own. Being tied to one woman had always seemed to represent a life sentence worse than prison to him. He had enjoyed his freedom too much, and he enjoyed the fact that no one woman could lay claim to his time or his life. However, he had begun to realize as of late that perhaps he had missed out on something important. Something that may have been able to add a sense of deeper completeness to his life, and might have provided that sense of peace and harmony he had never been able to find other wise because somewhere along the pathways of his life, he had missed the answer to the deep loneliness he had always suffered from but had hidden behind a face of arrogant self-importance.  
  
To think that a woman could have been that 'something' he had missed upset and angered him at the some time, but he could not deny the fact that spending even this short amount of time with Kamiya-san and Myojin-san had been a strange and rare experience for him. It had almost been pleasurable if he admitted it to himself. It made him miss the days when Kenshin had been a small boy, and it had made him long for the feeling of a warm body sleeping next to him at night. But not just any warm body, Hiko found he had wished for a special body. A special someone who was his and his alone to hold in the dark of the night when the cold of winter came to nibble at his flesh, who would snuggle next to him sharing her bodies warmth. Like… like a wife.  
  
Hiko shook himself hard. 'Stop it, you big Baka! Remember why you're here and where you're going. Stop thinking about your own foolish dreams, and think about your… son. Women are the least of your worries and are usually the cause of most of the worlds problems anyway.' A fresh angry spurt of energy pushed him forward and he was soon making the other two run just to stay close to him at all. He ignored their panting please for him to slow down, and just kept moving. The Police Station was not that much farther away. They could reach it in another hour or so if they continued at this pace.  
  
Hiko kept walking.   
  
Kaoru and Yahiko kept running, but fell farther and farther behind as his long legs carried him away from them faster than they could keep up.  
  
*************  
  
The quiet of the Kyoto Police Station was shattered by the thunderous slamming of the front door being thrown open with extreme force, the high pitched squealing screech of Sergeant Izukia as he was hauled out from behind his desk by the front of his blue uniform, and the growling sound of a deep threatening voice that grated along the stone walls of the old building like flint on granite.  
  
Saitoh was out of his chair and through the door with sword drawn in a flash of an instant. "Aaayyiii!" He screamed as he lunged in a practiced lightening attack upon the huge assailant who was holding his hysterical sergeant by the front of his uniform, but in the split instant before his blade could make contact with the white cloaked villain, he had disappeared completely and Izukia was setting on the floor in stunned silence. Then just as suddenly Saitoh felt the light but distinct pressure of a razor sharp katana pressed against the vulnerable spot between his neck and shoulder. He stopped and stood very still.  
  
"Hmmmm…." His voice was steady and without fear. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. Very interesting." Saitoh stood up straight and sheathed his own blade without turning around thus leaving his opponent behind him still in attack position. "Since I am certain you are NOT the Battousai, that means you can be only one other person."  
  
"Really?" The deep voice behind him was deep baritone, cultured and educated with just a hind of conceited sarcasm. "And who would that be, Captain Hajime Saitoh?"  
  
"Ah, you know me by my REAL name. I am impressed or perhaps I should be flattered. Least of all I am amused." He allowed a low sardonic chuckle to slide from his throat as he lit a cigarette. "I hope you will not be offended if I smoke. It is a bad habit of mine."  
  
"Of course not, just as I hope you will not be offended if I do not sheath my sword right away. It is also a bad habit of mine to keep it drawn in unknown situations, and I rarely put it away until I am ready to do so."  
  
"Of course, of course. Call it professional courtesy. Now where was I? Oh yes, your identity. As I said, I know you are not the Battousai, but your are definitely of the Mitsurugi." He took a long thoughtful drag off his cigarette. "Tell me, is this true at least?"  
  
"Yes, your deduction skills are astounding, Captain. You have intrigued me. Please continue." Sarcasm dripped from the smoothly spoken words.  
  
Saitoh smiled appreciatively. He loved a good sparing opponent in words almost as much as he did with a blade, and this man seemed to be just as self-assured and conceited as him in both areas. "Very good." He continued to speak in his most derisive voice. "Then as I believed, that would undoubtedly make you Battousai's 'senshi', but I am afraid I do not know your REAL name. I do believe; however, that it is customary that each Master inherits the name of Seijurou Hiko when they fully complete the training, do they not?"  
  
"Yes, they do. My, my but you are quite the detective, Captain Hajime. I can only assume that my baka-deshi told you about my existence; otherwise, there is no other way you could possibly know anything about me."  
  
"You deduction skills are almost as good as mine Seijurou-san. Yes, Battousai spoke to me of you once. He holds you in quite high esteem. He seems to think you skills are superior to any other swordsman alive. Including mine. Presumptuous of him don't you think?" Saitoh chuckled again blowing a great cloud of gray smoke into the air around his head.  
  
"I cannot even begin to tell what is in that baka-deshi's mind. I have never seen you fight, Captain, but he has. Perhaps he knows something you do not." This statement seemed to unsettle the arrogant Captain of Police, and he threw the rest of his unfinished cigarette on the floor in irritation.  
  
"Are you quite finished, Seijurou-san?" Saitoh's voice hardened perceptively. "Are you satisfied with whatever it is you wanted to know, or are we going to stand here all morning with your batou at my neck? I am a very busy man after all."  
  
Hiko allowed a low chuckle of victory to bubble up out of his throat as he sheathed his sword. "I am finished, Hajime-san, and I am quite satisfied. Please turn and face me as a friend. God knows I do not wish to have you as my enemy."  
  
Saitoh's thin silver eyebrows were knitted into a fierce scowl when he turned to face Hiko, but the aura of his angry irritation was melting away as he considered the much larger man standing before him. Indeed, he had to agree. It was much more advantageous to have this living, breathing mountain of muscle and bone as a friend and ally than an enemy. An enemy, he would be most formidable even on his own. The man was simply a magnificent tribute to the memory and image of the Samurai Warrior's from the old years. A tremendous respect began to grow within the Wolf for this odd but incredible man.  
  
He shook his head in derisive self-mockery, and then extended his hand to Hiko. "Okaeri, Hiko-san. Please come into my office and sit for a while. Forgive the stupidity of my Sergeant, but he is young and has poor manners." Saitoh formally escorted the Mitsurugi Master into the other room and shut the door. "It appears there is something of profound significance you wish to discuss with me."  
  
A few moments later Kaoru and Yahiko ran panting and puffing into the station only to see a stunned Izukia still setting on the floor in front of his desk trembling like a leaf in the wind.  
  
"Oh dear," Kaoru exclaimed in alarm. "Hiko-san has already been here. Rats! Come one, Yahiko, help me get him up. He looks like he might start crying or screaming or something once the shock wears off." Kaoru and Yahiko each grabbed one of the young Sergeant's arms and lifted him up off the floor half helping, half dragging him to his chair.  
  
"Hey, hey Mister. You OK? You in there? Hey?" Yahiko waved his hand back and forth in front of Izukia's frozen face, but the man's eyes hardly blinked. "He is really out of it, Kaoru. What do you think we should do?"  
  
"Hmmmm, I don't know. Hiko-san must have scared the poor man half to death." She scowled darkly at the thought of the big Mitsurugi Master's well-known bad manners. "That man," She huffed. "Why can't he try to be considerate for just once in his life when it comes to Kenshin or anything else for that matter?" Long ebony lock swung back and forth as she shook her head in exasperation. "I guess we will just have to keep trying to get through to this guy, Yahiko. He has to come around sometime."  
  
Yahiko looked at the dazed blank stare of the man doubtfully. "Yeah, right. Sure he does."  
  
************  
  
Inside of Saitoh's office, he and Hiko sat down on opposite of the old wood desk. Hiko felt cramped in the small room that had only one window. Saitoh savored a personal smile of satisfaction as he watched the large man shift uncomfortably in the confines of the chair he was trying to sit in.  
  
"You do not have chairs available to you in the country?" He asked innocently.  
  
Hiko glared at him murderously. "No, we are civilized. We kneel and set on the floor like normal people. We do not try to perch ourselves up on top of wobbly sticks of wood like bloody parrots and fucking monkeys…. Baka!"  
  
A cascade of rich masculine laughter from his uniformed companion followed his furiously muttered statement. "Touché', my friend." Saitoh shuffled the papers on his desk into a neat pile then faced the big dark haired man. "Tell me, why you are here wrecking havoc inside my orderly Police Station this crisp morning, Seijurou-san?" Thin brows arched questioningly. "I do not think you came to duel with swords or words, did you?"  
  
Hiko met Saitoh's yellow gaze with hard emerald gemstones that glittered with fierce intensity. "No, I did not come to duel." Large brown hands clasped across the front of his chest as he straightened his big frame up in the uncomfortable chair and locked gazes with Saitoh. "I came for information."  
  
Saitoh reared back in surprise. "Information? What kind of information? What do you think you want to know from me?"  
  
"I want to know exactly where my baka-deshi is, Hajime-san. I want to know where in the name of the seven hells of Shinigumi you sent him, and how I can find him. And I want to know NOW!" Those glittering emerald eyes narrowed into dangerous slits of yellow-green as Hiko favored Saitoh with a pointed glare. "And I want to know WHAT you sent him to investigate. What kind of demon's hell did you send him into and WHY?"  
  
Despite himself and all of his years of training with the Shinsengumi and his time with the Police force, Saitoh felt a sliver of icy apprehension tickle up his spine and twine its fingers through his scalp. He could feel the burning threat emanating from the man in front of him, and it bothered him in a way he could not remember feeling before. Hajime Saitoh was seriously uncomfortable.  
  
"How do you know I have sent Battousai anywhere?"  
  
"Do not treat me like a baka, Hajime-san. Suffice it to say that I know. Now answer my questions before I lose my temper again and finish with you what I started with your pitiful Sergeants."  
  
"Why is the whereabouts of you 'baka-deshi' so important to you, Seijurou-san. From your description of him, you have little respect for the Battousai, not that I blame you. After all, he did dishonor you when he become a hitokiri during the Bakumatsu, and used the Mitsurugi Ryu to murder."   
  
"Do not tell me about my deshi, Hajime-san. I know only too well who he was and what he has done. My personal feelings for him are my own, and they are none of your fucking business, but his whereabouts ARE MINE simply because I am his senshi, and I know he is in trouble. NOW, tell me where he is!" Hiko leaned farther forward adding force to his words.  
  
"All right. He is about one mile from here in a boarding house recuperating from the mission I sent him on." Saitoh tried to sound matter-of-fact, but there was a slight tremor to his voice as he spoke.  
  
"His is here? In Kyoto? Now?" Hiko's voice was filled with disbelief and hope.  
  
"Yes. He is here. He came back about a week ago. He looked like he had been through Hell itself, and I insisted he take the necessary time needed to regain his health and strength."  
  
"What do you mean? How did he look?" Emerald eyes pinned Saitoh to his chair.  
  
"He had lost a considerable amount of weight, and he was pale as a ghost. There was almost no strength left in him at all. He was more a shadow of himself than himself." Yellow eyes turned to look thoughtfully out the window. "Truly in all the years I have known him, and even wanted him dead, I have never seen him look like that nor did I ever believe I would. I thought he was a walking corpse." Silence followed Saitoh's words for a time, and then he spoke again. "But the most unusual thing about him, the one thing that bothered me the most was his spirit-ki."  
  
"His ki?" Hiko's voice was now filled with definite concern. "Explain."  
  
"I fought the Battousai during the Revolution, Seijurou-san. Blade to Blade. I have seen him fight others with his sakobatou, and I have watched him face insurmountable odds without fear or despair, and I have seen him overcome. I have sworn to kill him myself yet found myself allies with him more than once, and grudgingly I have given him my respect. Although I would never allow myself to speak these words to him, I cannot deny the truth of them either. His is a magnificent warrior and a swordsman who has few if any equals." Then Saitoh's voice dropped to a mere whisper. "However, in all of these years I have known him, I have never once seen the Battousai… afraid. Truly afraid." His voice trailed off into silence again.  
  
"Yes," Hiko whispered sadly. "I have felt his fear too."  
  
"His ki has been shattered by a terror neither of us can fathom, Seijruou-san." Saitoh's face became grace and pale.  
  
"Did he tell you what happened to him?" Hiko locked eyes with the wolfish policeman setting across from him. "Did he tell you anything?"  
  
"Yes, he told me. He told me everything that happened to him out there."  
  
"What DID happen to him, Hajime-san? What happened to him out there? What frightened him so badly that his ki came running to me in terror all the way to the waterfalls? Tell me what happened to him?" Hiko's eyes bore into Saitoh trying to force the information out of him by shear will.  
  
"Are you certain you are ready to know, Seijurou-san? Is your mind prepared for a horror that cannot be, but is?" Saitoh's eyes narrowed into slits of yellow-gold. "Can I trust you?"  
  
"Trust me?" The wooden legs of the chair creaked in protest as the big man leaned too far backwards. "What the hell do you mean 'can you trust me?'? What kind of nightmare bullshit are we talking about here?"  
  
"Nightmares?" Shrugging shoulders and raised eyebrows caused crawling sensations to run up and down Hiko's arms as he watched Saitoh contemplate his next words. "I suppose you could link it with nightmares. It certainly is the stuff which nightmares are made of." His head was nodding absently.  
  
"OK, what are we talking about here? Things that go bump in the night? Hack and slash murders? What?" Hiko could not quite keep the amusement out of his voice as he readjusted his weight in the chair.  
  
Saitoh caught Hiko's emerald gaze from beneath his brow. "This was going to be between Battousai and myself only because of its frightening and… unique nature. We felt the less individuals involved the less chance for information leaks and mishaps." He paused to watch Hiko's expression. "Do you understand? This is not a joke or a jest. It is not a game. This is possibly the most dangerous thing either of us will ever face or do."  
  
All of the humor drained from Hiko as he watched the look of cold and deadly seriousness descend over the former Shinsengumi Wolf. A shiver of apprehension wiggled through him as he recalled the screaming terror of Kenshin's spirit-ki the night he had come to him at the waterfalls. "Are you telling me that whatever this is, it is not over yet?"  
  
"Yes, that is what I am telling you. Now," The voice was cold and hard as stone. "I repeat can I trust you, Seijurou Hiko? Or do I usher out of my office with nothing but the whereabouts of your baka-deshi?" A long nearly endless silence stretched out between the two men as each thoughtfully pondered Saitoh's unanswered questions.  
  
Hiko's voice was low and raspy when he finally spoke. "You believe him then?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"All right, are we talking about mass torture and murder, or something similar?"  
  
"No. It is much worse than that."  
  
"Worse?" His horrified face met Saitoh's expressionless one. "What is worse than torture?"  
  
Saitoh gave Hiko one long cold look then said one word. One single word that hung in the air like a long dead secret that should have never been spoken, and the effect it had on Hiko was confounding.  
  
"Hyoukyo."  
  
"Hyoukyo! That is insane! That is impossible!" The deep voice rose high on an outraged note of disbelief and filled the small room quickly with his discomfort. "That is the type of thing old hags and monk use to frighten bad boys into behaving and minding their manners. It is what ghost stories and nightmares are made of." He looked angry and confused at the same time as he tried to wrestle with the ides of demon possession being a reality in this day and age. "Stories like that are just old dusty legends and fairy tales. They are not really true… it cannot be…" He whispered into the cold room. "It simply cannot be." Suddenly his eyes grew wide with alarm as he heard himself speak the very words Saitoh had said to him only moments before. 'Devil possession?' He whispered to his shocked soul. 'Can it be?' Hiko's mind rebelled viciously at the thought, but…  
  
His uneasy yellow-green gaze searched out the Policeman's thin face. "How is it possible, Hajime-san? How can you believe it is true?"  
  
"I only have Battousai's word, and the strange reports I have been receiving from the north countries over the last seven or eight months." He met Hiko's horrified eyes. "I could not fault Battousai's tale. Not after seeing him the way he looked when he returned. Even after hearing the absolute insanity of what he claimed to have seen, I could not deny it must be true. I had to believe him."  
  
Hiko's eyes closed in despair as he tried to accept the significance of what Saitoh was saying to him. "Tell me everything he told you. I want to hear all of it."  
  
"Are you truly certain? It is terrible beyond anything you have ever heard or thought of before. "  
  
"Yes, I want to hear ever single word, ever detail. All of it, Hajime-san. All of it."  
  
"As you wish, but remember one thing. You asked."  
  
*************  
  
"Hey, Kaoru! I think this guys starting to finally come around. He blinked one eye." Yahiko peered closely at the uniformed Sareant slouching in the chair. His brown eyes were only partically glazed and he was starting to look like he may actually be alive.  
  
Kaoru leaned over and looked at the man then tried to speak to him. "Gomennasi?" She patted his face experimentally, but recieved no response. "Hello? Sargeant whatever your name is, are you Ok?" She pursed her lips in frustation when all he did was blink at her with his one eye. "Kuso!" Yahiko stared at her in total amazement.  
  
"Kaoru, you cursed." He said accusingly.  
  
"I did not." She retorted in offense.  
  
"You did too." He insisted.  
  
"No I didn't!" She said more firmly.  
  
"Did so!"  
  
"Yahiko!"  
  
"Ok, ok, so maybe you didn't." He waved his hands in the air to fend her off when she went to hit him. "But you did." He mumbled under his breath as she turned her attention back to the eye-gawking Sargeant.  
  
"All right, Mister. I have had it with this crap. Wake up already!!" Kaoru grabbed the poor man by both shoulders and began to shake him violently. "I know Hiko-san is scarey, but he's not THAT scarey so get ahold of yourself you big whimp and SNAP OUT OF IT!!"  
  
"Wh-w-wha-what in th-the hh-he-hell...?" Izukia could feel himself being thrown from side to side by some wild malevolent force that seemed intent on snapping his neck in half. His hands started to rise from their hanging position at his sides in an attempt to stop the vicious shaking while his brain struggled sluggishly to find any form of defense it could. "St-stop it!" He yelled loudly as he finally found a realy voice to use. "Stop it, damn you whoever you are! Stop it or I will cut you hands off!" Suddenly he was dropped by whomever had a hold of him, and his world started to settle back into a more peaceful sense of motion.  
  
"What the hell is going on?" He muttered as his hand covered his confused pale face, and then was furiously raked through his short black hair.  
  
"Well, it looks like you whimped out when Hiko-san came in here, blue-boy because you've been a blind staring zombie for about fifteen minutes I'd say." This amused statement was followed by a cascade of youthful laughter and sniggering snorts. "Some big brave policeman you are, and a Sargeant at that. Geez, I feel so much safer already."  
  
"Shut-up!" Izukia looked up to find his tormentor and met a pair of light brown eyes dancing with mirth beneath a shock of unruley black hair. "Hey, you're nothing but a stupid brat. Get out of my face, brat." He yelled and shoved Yahiko out of his way as he lurched to his feet.  
  
"Hey, don't call me stupid, Baka. You're the one who practically pissed his pants like a baby not me." Yahiko sniffed haughtily.  
  
Izukia turned around and grabbed the younger man by the sleeve of his pale green gi and roughly yanked him bach. "Hey, you stupid brat." He sneered into Yahiko's bland and deceptively expressionless face. "You better stop showing me so much disrespect, or I will throw you in a cell and forget where I put the key. You get me? Huh, brat? Do you get ME?"  
  
"Get your hands off of him you big jerk, or else I'm going to poung you into the ground!" Izukia heard a decidedly feminine voice threatening him from behind, and suddenly wondered just how much worse this day could possibly get.  
  
"Look Lady," He started to say as he turned to face the unknown woman, but before he could focus on her face, he found himself soundly whacked, smacked, and swept off his feet by none other than the brat he was sure he had subdued. "KUSO!" He looked up at the two people who were now standing over him in a very threatening manner. "Just what the hell is going on here? And just who in the hell are you two anyway?"  
  
"Well," Kaoru humphed with her hands on her hips. "If you weren't so rude and stupid, and if you did not jump to conclusions so easily, we would have told you by now." She shook her head in angry disapproval at the young policeman. "Those are not very good attributes for a commissioned Police Officer you know. Now give me your hand and I will help you up."  
  
Izukia stared suspiciously at the offered hand then reached out and grasped it only to find out to his surprise that the young woman was quite strong. She pulled his weight up off the floor without any difficulty at all.  
  
"Thank-you," He said as he brushed dust and dirt off his blue uniform. "I am not usually rude or impulsive, and I rarely lose my patience. I suppose the circumstance caught me by surprise."  
  
"I am sorry, Sargeant, but that is not an acceptable excuse. An Officer representing the Kyoto Police should be prepared at all times no matter the circumstances. Lives could depend on his actions or reactions."  
  
"Of course," He grudgingly agreed suddenly feeling as if he were being lectured by one of his Academy insturcters instead of a beautiful young woman. "I realize you are right, but it has been a difficult morning."  
  
"I will accede you that, Sargeant. Haveing Serijurou Hiko explode into your face without warning can be quite a startling experience to say the least. Especially if you have never had the privledge of meeting him before." Kaoru smiled with knowing sympathy, but gave the police officer no further outs for his poor behavior.  
  
Izukia smiled wanly as embarrassment settled in. "Thank-you for that, I suppose. He is quite the formidable presance isn't he."  
  
She laughed merrily. "That is an understatement if I ever heard one." Sapphire blue eyes were filled with mischief and acceptance for the young man. "By the way, I am Kamiya Kaoru, and this is my deshi, Myojin Yahiko."  
  
Izukia bowed respectfull and introduced himself. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Kamiya-san, and you, Myojin-san. I am Sargeant Makida Izukia. I am Captain Fugita's personal assistant."  
  
"You work for Fugita? On purpose?" Yahiko's voice was thick with sarcastic incredulity.  
  
Izukia looked at the younger man in astonishment. "Yes, I am." He said proudly. "The Captain is a great man and highly respected within the Police Force here in Kyoto." Then he looked at Kaoru in deep confusion. "Do you know him?"  
  
She nodded with a dour look on her face. "Yes, but I am afraid we do not share quite the same opinion of him that you have. I am sorry, Sargeant Makida, but we have dealth with Fugita-san in different circumstances than you have here in the Police Department. We meant no offense."  
  
Izukia felt a protective anger building up in his chest. "How could anyone not respect the Captain?" He muttered under his breath as he looked at the dusty floor around his boots. "He is one of the bravest and greatest men in all of Kyoto." He looked up at his two guests and shrugged. "I have taken no offense," He said quietly to them. "But I would be curious to hear the tales one day of why you carry so little respect for such an honorable man. They would be of tremendous interest to me. I would also like to know why you speak his name with such a disrespectful and debasing tone. The Captain is a very brave and highly respected man here in Kyoto. Everyone knows his name."  
  
A small frown creased Kaoru's otherwise smooth brow as she considered the young Sargeant's words. 'He really idolizes Saitoh.' She thought. 'We weill have to be more careful what we say around him when we talk about that damn Wolf.' To Izukia she said, "Perhaps one day, Sargeant Makida, but not now. Justify it to say that we know your Captain from a world of drastically different circumstances than these surrounding you." She tried to smile in as friendly a manner as she could in order to reassure the wounded young man. "Right now I am more interesting in the whereabouts of another man. That is why we are all here in Kyoto. To find him."  
  
"Oh," Izukia's eyes brightened. "Tell me his name and perhaps I can help you. I am quite good at finding people in this city. It is my job, you know." A genuine smile curved his thin lips and he winked at her as he sat down behind his desk. A clean piece of white paper was pulled from one of the drawers along with ink and a quill-tipped pen. "So, tell him your friends name, and we can get started." Clear brown eyes looked directly into Kaoru's face expectantly as he waited patiently for her to speak.  
  
Kaoru smiled indulgently in the face of his eagerness to be of help to her, but waved him off with a brush of her hand on his arm. "That is not necessary, Sargeant Makida. You see, that is what Hiko-san is doing inside of that office right now."  
  
Izukia glanced over his shoulder at the closed door leading to Saitoh's office where Kaoru was pointing. "Is it someone the Captain knows?"  
  
"Yes." Her voice took on a sad note reflect some of the despair she was carrying inside. "He works for your Captain occassionally. He takes on private missions of some sort or another that usually keep him away from home a few weeks, but this time he has been gone for months. I... I mean, we have all gotten very worried about him because we have not even had a letter from him since he left. He is very important to all three of us, and we are afraid he might be in some kind of trouble, and we have come all the way from Tokyo to try and find him."  
  
"Trouble?" Izukia looked thoughful for a moment then spoke in a low gentle voice. "Tell me his name, Kamiya-san, and I just might be able to help you find him." The expression on his face turned earnest and entreating. "That is, if you are who I think you are, then he really needs you."  
  
Kaoru's eyes grew into large rounded orbs of deep blue as she stared at the policeman in shock. "If I am who you think I am? What do you mean?" She staggered slightly and Yahiko guided her to a chair in front of the old desk. Once she was solidly seated, she turned and stared at Izukia again. "Are... are you talking about Himura Kenshin?"  
  
"Yes, I am." A gentle smile crossed his features as he let himself really look at the woman in front of him. "I am very fond of him actually, and I am proud to call him my friend. He is a great man just like Captain Fugita. I admire him very much."  
  
"Oh please," She whispered suddenly very close to breaking down into tears. "Do you know where we can find him? Do you know if he is all right?" Her words were anxious and filled with a multitude of emotions, and Izukia could see the great love and worry reflected in her beautiful eyes. Himura-san had told him about the girl he loved back in Tokyo once a few months ago. He had said how brave and beautiful she was, and how stubborn and argumentative she could be. It had been painfully clear to Izukia how much the man loved her and wanted to be with her, and how much it was tearing him up by being away from her.   
  
Izukia had asked Himura-san why he had not married her after the Enishii incident had been resolved, but the older swordsman had just gotten very quiet and said something about bloody hands and refused to talk about her again.  
  
Now here she sat right in front of him, and he could see clearly what Himura-san found so appealing about her. The incredibly beautiful girl-woman possessed the fighting spirit and demeanor of a warrior, and the knowledge to back it up. On top of all that, she was honest, straight forward, and wore her integrity like a suit of armor. The fact that she loved Himura-san with all her heart and soul was none too obvious, and the depth of emotion he could see in her dark blue eyes nearly broke his heart.  
  
"Shhhh, calm down Kamiya-san." Izukia stood up and walked around his desk to kneel in front of Kaoru so he could gently take her cold trembling hands into his. "You must not be afraid anymore. Not now, so dry your tears and listen to me."  
  
"What do you mean I must not be afraid now? Kenshin is out there somewhere in terrible trouble. Hiko-san is his senshi and he can 'feel' him, and we 'know' something horrible happened to him. Something unspeakable that terrifed him beyond his own sense of mental resolve. Now you tell me why I should not be afraid?"  
  
"Because, jou-can, he is not lost out on the countryside huddled under some tree or bush, he is right here in Kyoto, and he is staying in a boarding house only a few blocks away from this very station." Izukia smiled softly and squeezed Kaoru's hands with encouragement and reassurement. "He is safe and sound, Kamiya-san."  
  
Huge bottemless pools of astonished cobalt were filling with hope as they searched his face for proof of the truth, and Izukia thought he was going to be swallowed whole within their swirling depths.  
  
"He... is here?" Her small voice cracked on a sob as she tried to absorb what she had just heard. "He is really here... in Kyoto?" The tears that had been threatened to fall, spilled over and slid down her smooth pale cheeks in twin rivers of disbelief and hope. "And he is alive? He is all right? He is not hurt? Makida-san? Is he all right?"  
  
The smile on Izukia's face faltered and his eyes broke contact with Kaoru's. "Well, not completely." A sob broke through what was left of her composure, and he locked gazes with her once again and gripped her hands tighter. "He is very weak and very thin, but he is not ill. Whatever he went through out there took away more of him than it left behind."  
  
"What are you trying to say... that Kenshin is.."  
  
"Diminished. He is a shadow of himself, Kamiya-san. Captain Fugita describled it as having lost most of his spirit-ki. He needs much time to heal and recuperate both his body and his soul."  
  
"Oh noooo..." Kaoru cried into her cupped hands. "Oh Kenshin... 'Oh my koishii.' "What has happened to you?" Slim narrow shoulders shook with the force of her emotions as she wept quietly lost in her own world of sorrow. "How can I help you? Kami-sama, tell me what to do to help him."  
  
Izukia patted her shoulder carefully and gently spoke to her. "Go to him, Kamiya-san. That is what you can do, and that is what he needs most. I think he needs someone to be with him right now so he is not all alone with just himself and whatever it is that haunts him, but truthfull, I think he just needs 'you'."  
  
Teary eyes looked wonderingly into his gentle face. "He needs me?"  
  
"Yes, I think he loves you, and if anyone can help him regain what he has lost, it will be you." Izukia locked his brown gaze with her blue one again. "Do you love him?"  
  
"Yes, more than anything." Her young voice was earnest.  
  
"Then go to him. Help him by being with him. This is a time in Himura-san's life when he should not be left alone."  
  
It seemed so simple.  
  
"He is right Kaoru." Yahiko's soft voice sounded in her right ear and she felt his strong familiar hands on her shoulders. "If what this guy is saying is true, then Kenshin really does need you."  
  
"Yahiko?" She was asking a question that she was not really sure of the answer, but just as he always did, the young swordsman surprised her.  
  
"He loves you, Kaoru. Everybody knows it but you, and you love him, and everybody knows THAT except him. So go on. You gotta go. It sounds like he is in real bad shape." Kaoru turned her tear stained face to look into his younger one and found it wrinkled with concern and... love?  
  
"Yahiko..." Reaching out with a trembling white hand, she gently touched his tanned face. "You are such a good boy. Tell Hiko-san where I have gone. Will you?"  
  
"Sure I will." He was blushing furiously beneath her soft touch, but he did not pull away like he usually would. "I'll take care of everything. You just go, Ok. You and Kenshin belong together anyways. You always did." After saying that, he walked away from her and picked up her bag. "Here's your stuff. Sargeant, are you gonna take her to where Kenshin is? It really isn't safe for her to go alone in a strange city, you know."  
  
Izukia's brows rose in increduality at the younger mans audacity and pitiful attempt at maturity. "Why, yes. I had thought to escort Kamiya-san to where Himura-san was staying. Is THAT to your satisfaction, Myojin-san?" His tone was laced heavily with sarcasm as he mocked the boy.  
  
"Hey!" Yahiko whirled fiercly on the startled policeman. "Don't fuck with me where Kaoru is concerned, asshole. She's my responsibility and part of my family, so you are either taking her or you aren't. Which is it? And no more bullshit answers either or I'll split your stupid skull. Got ME?"  
  
"He means it." Izukia heard Kaoru's barely whispered warning. "And do not doubt that he can do it too. Do not underestimate him."  
  
"Ahhh... all right, Myojin-san. Yes, I will be taking Kamiya-san to the boarding house where Himura-san is staying."  
  
"And you WILL make certain she reaches it safely?" The boys voice was a low growl which made Izukia take a closer look at him. A shiver ran up his spine as he noticed an eerie reddish glow burning in the young swordsman's eyes. Just like Himura-san's eyes turned that demonish amber, this boys were turning an unearthy red. Perhaps he should not take this young man so lightly after all.  
  
"Yes, I will be certain she is safe."  
  
"Very well. Do not make me regret trusting you... Sargeant Makida." The hinted threat clung to the fabric of Izukia's uniform all the way to the boarding house. There was something not quite right about that boy. He was not quite certain what it was, but he intended to keep his distance until he was sure he could turn his back on the kid without worrying about finding his head next to him on the floor. 


	5. Resurection of A Soul

Here is Chapter five. Things are starting to get a little bit sticky, and Kenshin and Kaoru's relationship is going to meet a bump and a curve in the road. I think they can deal with it though. This is sort of a transition chapter to help bridge the path from one place of interest to another, so bear with me. Chapter six starts things off on an interesting ride.  
  
Please read and review. Thanks. This story is really coming from somewhere deep inside of me. I am beginning to understand that more and more as I proof read it and try to re-edit it from word perfect into a text document so I can put it up on the net. The transference process sort of messes with the formatting appearance of the document itself, and has forced me to adjust certain things, but all in all it is still the same story I started out with.  
  
Glossary of Japanese Words:  
  
jodan=rice field, koishii=dear or darling, kuso=bullshit or shit, baka-deshi=stupid apprentice, saiai=beloved, koibito-sweetheart, ka=good, nani=what?, jou-chan=young lady, masaka=never, aikouka=lover  
  
""=out loud conversation, ''=mental thoughts  
  
Standard disclaimers apply. I do not own the Ruroni Kenshin charachters, I'm just having fun messing around with their lives at the moment.  
  
Chapter Five  
  
Resurrection of a souls life  
  
He was walking through a joden like the ones his father used to have when he was alive and the family lived on his rice trading business. The long tall stalks of new green rice rose high; nearly as tall as he was. He had to lift his hands high to brush the grain laden tops as he passed by. A soft cool breeze wafted across the field of grasses and rice stalks bending them over beneath its gentle force and then letting them bounce back up only to capture them again in an age old dance of nature and new life. It was a beautiful day, and the smells of growing plants and moist earth filled the air  
  
and mingled with the sounds of birds singing and crickets chirping. Kenshin could feel the warmth of the sun on his face and permeating his gi and hakema, and he closed his amethyst eyes in pleasure as he savored the sensation.   
  
It seemed the peace that had eluded him for so long had finally been found, and he could feel his soul singing in pure joy at the discovery. "At last," he whispered to himself. "At last I am free." Suddenly seized by the unexplainable urge to run, his feet seemed to grow a mind of their own, and they began to carry him through the huge endless rice field leaping through the tall grasses as he ran. He just wanted to run and run and run for nothing more than the shear joy of the freedom it represented to him. Laughter rang out and danced across the open field like so many winged fairies of fantasy tales that he felt like laughing with them too, until he realized the laughter was his own.   
  
This was the most beautiful place he had ever been. The most wonderful place in all of God's creation. It must be heaven, or at least it must be paradise, and he knew he had never felt this way any where else before. He had never felt this kind of happiness or this kind of freedom. He vowed to his haunted soul and tortured heart that he would stay forever where he knew nothing dark could reach him. Here he was safe.   
  
On the distant horizon, a huge cloud was taking shape. The fury of ten thousand demons seemed to be boiling and roiling within its fathomless black depths. It ominously stretched outward across the sky until it had covered everything to the North including the mountains and low rolling hills. Swift swirling winds began to blow and wail deep within its inky depths as the evil mass started to move forward across the sky reaching out to the golden Sun itself.   
  
He was sleeping peacefully in the warm grass when a cold blustery gust of wind woke him. At first he did not understand what was going on. 'Why is it so cold?' he wondered as a shiver shook him and rattled his teeth. Standing up he walked over the top of the small hill in front of him and came face to face with the boiling mass of the black cloud. "Nooo..." He breathed in disbelief. "Noooo, it can't happen here. Not here." He watched the spectacle unable to tear his eyes away despite the fear and bile that rose up in his chest and threatened to chock off his air. "It's coming for me again. How did it find me here?" His voice shook with emotions he could not control. "Will I never be free? Will I never have peace?" As he watched the cloud roll closer and closer to the  
  
golden light of the Sun, Kenshin was gripped with a sudden immense feeling of rage. It boiled and burned within his belly until it burst forth and spilled over and became a living emotion of liquid fire.   
  
"Its not right, that it is not." he breathed between gritted teeth. "Its not right that I should be so hunted for the rest of my life." The rage continued to grow and grow until Kenshin became the rage. Clenched fists, turned white with the ferocity of his feelings, rose skyward to the advancing darkness, and he screamed in defiance. "I will not be afraid! I will not run! I will not let you beat me again!" Long fingers of blinding white lightening flashed across the sky and struck the ground exploding in a deafening thunder as it threw up massive amounts of earth and stone into the air in  
  
furious response to his challenge, but Kenshin continued relentlessly showing no outward signs of fear. "You are not stronger than I, and I will beat you! I will win! Do you hear me, ACUMA? I WILL WIN!!! I WILL WIN!! I WILL SEND YOU BACK TO HELL!!! I WILL DEFEAT  
  
YOU!!!" He was screaming and shaking his defiant fist at the thundering darkness as he stood alone on top of the small hill waiting for the cloud to over run him. "I will not be afraid. I will not run. I will not let you beat me again. I will not run."   
  
  
  
A man in a faded pink gi and white hakama stands alone atop a grassy hill, fist raised in absolute defiance as he faces what could be his own death bearing down upon him. His deep amber eyes pierce the darkness of the roiling black mass with twin daggers of pure golden light. Lightening flashes in response stabbing the ground around the man's feet, but he gracefully leaps out of the way and dodges the deadly fingers of death meant to incinerate him. Roaring thunder screams the clouds frustration and increasing rage, as a barrage of dozens and dozens of the deadly white lances lash out at the aggravating and seemingly untouchable man. Again his body seems to slide though the static filled air appearing and disappearing at incredible speeds without once being touched by the demon heat. Around him the ground grows black and charred as again and again he  
  
eludes the destruction of the Demons Fingers.  
  
Kenshin could feel hands shaking him and a familiar voice calling his name from somewhere faraway. He struggled to let go of the vision and return to the reality where the voice was trying to pull him, but he was caught up in the evil pull of the darkness bearing down on him. Reality cast a shiver of concern over him. Could he get out in time.  
  
"Kenshin!!!" Kaoru cried his name frantically as she shook his thin shoulders trying desperately to wake him up. After Sargent Izukia had shown her to his room, she had entered only to find him crying out and thrashing desperately upon his futon caught up in the furious grasp of a terrible nightmare. And now, try as she might, she could not get him to wake up.  
  
"Kenshin! Kenshin!" Her voice was bordering on the hysterical as she watched his eyes roll backwards in their sockets, and his breathing become more labored and raspy. "Noooo, come back. Don't do this to me, Kenshin. Not now." Tears were streaming down her pale face as she searched his for any sign of consciousness or change. "Please don't do this. Don't leave me here, you stupid ruroni!" She continued to shake him and cry his name, but he would not wake up.  
  
"Kami-sama, help me... please... help me." Hopelessness began to overcome her, and her head dropped down onto his heaving chest in defeat "What else can I do?" She sobbed brokenly as her tears bathed his bare chest in tiny wet rivulets. "Kami, how do I reach him where he's at? How?" Despair seeped into her soul, and Kaoru felt herself losing her resolve. Then suddenly she was inexplicably gripped by an angry frustration that rose and consumed all her other emotions. Snapping her head back in fury, she glared malevolently at the unconscious body of the man she loved through glittering tear filled eyes.   
  
"Damn you Kenshin Himura." She bit out between clenched teeth. " I don't know what you think I'm made of, but I can only take so much grief and heart ache from you, and I didn't come all the way from Tokyo to watch you go through horrors like this. NOW WAKE UP!!!" Irrational fury seized her and she pulled her hand back to slap him hard across the face. He did not move. "I said wake up, Kenshin!" She yelled and slapped him again, and again, and again. "Dammit, wake up you stupid ruroni... wake up and talk to me. Do something... anything." but he remain still and unmoving. Ragged sobs seized her and she collapsed on his bare chest in despair. "Please, wake up.... pl-please. I'm so frightened, Kenshin. I'm so afraid." Wrapping her arms around him as much as she was able to, Kaoru held his body as tightly to her as she could. Soft wet tears of hopelessness continued to wash a wet path across his skin as pitiful child-like sobs shook her slender body. "I'm so afraid..."  
  
The pain was shocking to him. 'She's hitting me,' He thought. 'She's actually hitting me.' Kenshin couldn't figure out what on earth had gotten into Kaoru-dono that she would strike him over and over so many times, and with so much force at that. ' I don't think she's spared a bit of her strength. This really hurts.' He tried to lift his hand to stop her but found he could not. In fact, he found it appeared his entire body was frozen. 'What's wrong with me? Why can't I move?' He considered this for a few moments with concerned curiosity then he realized Kaoru was crying. No, she was not just crying. She was sobbing like a child who desperately needed to be comforted and reassured. Kenshin felt the frustrating pain of not being able to put his arms around  
  
her and hold her.   
  
'Don't cry koishii.' He tried to say, but found he could not speak either. He was  
  
beginning to get worried. 'What has happened to me?' Then it came to him all at once. The dream, the cloud, the hill, the darkness, Kaoru hitting him. 'She pulled me out.' He was incredulous. 'How did she do that?' Kenshin was confused. 'How did she get here? What is she doing here? Dear God,' His heart began to ache with the need to know. 'Am I dreaming or is she really my room with me?!' Suddenly focusing on getting his body to respond to his commands and move became the most important thing in his life. 'It must be shock from everything that was happening on the hill. I have to find a way to break out from this. I have to.' His concentration increased as he focused on reanimating his muscles and nerves.  
  
She tried to stop the tears, but it was impossible. Why couldn't she reach him? What was happening to him right now? What horrors held him so tightly bound to his dreams that he could not break free? More tears slid down her cheeks to splash on his chest making a puddle over his heart.  
  
'Come back, Kenshin.' Her voice was a broken whisper filled with pain. 'Make them let you go and come back. Come back to me and I'll never let them have you again. I swear I won't.'  
  
"'I have not left you for a long time now, Kaoru-dono. I am always with you. That I am." The voice she heard was very low and hoarse as Kenshin forced it from his throat with tremendous effort. Her head shot up and anxious tear filled blue eyes searched for and found groggy amethyst ones. They blinked with heavy lids then focused on her, and blinked again. A deep sigh lifted his chest and he slowly, carefully lifted an arm to draped it across her shoulders and tenderly hug her against him. "Please, don't cry. It makes me sad when you cry, Kaoru-dono. Please, don't cry anymore. Everything will be all right."  
  
"Kenshin..." her voice was barely audible as she gazed at his pale face. "Are you really awake?" She gently cupped his cool cheek in her hand as she continued to search his eyes for signs of sanity and recognition.   
  
He smiled with some difficulty but managed to turn his face into her palm and rub his cheek against her hand. "Yes, koishii. I am awake." Then a violent shudder shook his entire body and he gasp sharply as a spasm of horrific pain gripped him arching his back and shoulders up off the futon in response. Kaoru was immediately worried and frightened as she watched his body jerk and fight the terrible pain.   
  
"Kenshin!" She cried out in helpless anxiety. "Are you all right? What it happening to you? Why are you in pain? Kenshin? Tell me how I can help you, please."  
  
As the shuddering and jerking stopped, and Kenshin's body finally relaxed back onto the futon, a quivering hand rose and covered the hand she had placed on his cheek. "You are helping me as long as you are not a dream, my beautiful Kaoru-dono. Are you a dream?" There was uncertainty in his soft voice, and his other arm tightened around her. Dark violet eyes opened and met her concerned blue ones. "Are you going to disappear in but a few moments when I have fully recovered the use of my muscles?" His eyes earnestly searched her face for an answer.  
  
"No Kenshin. I am not a dream. Here," she took his hand and pressed it against her cheek and nuzzled against his palm. "Can you feel me?"   
  
"Yes. I can feel you." He smiled and pulled her head down so he could rest his chin against her forehead. "But are you real, my koishii? Or have I made you up again because I have missed you so much?" Kenshin rolled onto his side so he could look directly into her face his eyes caressing the beauty that he loved the most. "Has my poor lonely heart fabricated you out of my memories in my hour of deepest loneliness? I have fabricated you in my dreams before only to have you vanish when I open my eyes." He ran a gentle finger down the length of her slim nose.  
  
"It seems your muscles are working better." She observed in a quiet nervous voice. as she noticed the increased smoothness of his movements. Kaoru suddenly felt very shy with Kenshin at this moment, and found she could not meet his gaze. He had never been like this with her before. He had never talked to her like this or held her like this, and she was more than a little unsure of how she should react to him.   
  
"So it would seem." He agreed flexing his elbow then moving his hand to trace the line of her delicate jaw. "How did you get here?" The question caught her off guard. And startled out of her nervousness, she looked directly into his eyes.  
  
"We came by ship." she blurted out.  
  
"We?" An elegant brown brow raised in surprise. "Who else is with you?"  
  
"Yahiko, and...." she stopped and bit her lip. Kuso! 'Should I tell him?'  
  
"Ahh, it will be good to see Yahiko again. I have missed his energy and spirit." His smile was warm and his face more relaxed. "And who else is here, Kaoru-dono? You almost mentioned someone else. Who is it?"  
  
"Ummm, well....." She was evading and she could see by the look in his eyes that he knew it. Her eyes dropped again.  
  
"Tell me." His thumb brushed lightly over her bottom lip and her mind went completely blank.  
  
"Ahhh.... n-nn-nani?" Confused blue eyes blinked and looked blankly at his face.  
  
He laughed softly and left her lips alone for the moment. "Tell me who else came with you."  
  
Kaoru lowered her eyes and concentrated on a spot somewhere around his adam's apple. "It was Hiko-san." She said blandly to his throat. " Hiko-san came with us." This statement was followed by total silence. After a moment, she snuck a peek at him through her long black lashes and was surprised to find him watching her with a strange intensity, his eyes a deep purple. Finally she timidly met his eyes.  
  
"Why did my Master come with you?" The question was spoken in a flat none emotional  
  
tone.  
  
"Because he wanted to find you." It was a simply spoked statement coupled with a  
  
distracted shrug. "It was he who came to me first trying to find you, then we all came to Kyoto looking for you."  
  
"HE came to you?"  
  
"Yes." when he didn't say anything else, she urged him a little. "Kenshin? Is it alright Hiko-san is here?" He could hear worry in her voice.  
  
Soft lavender eyes dipped to meet hers in a long searching look that took her breath away and sent her heart pounding. "Yes, it is alright he is here. In a way I am glad he is, but do not tell him that or he will be all over me with his baka-deshi crap, and I am really not up to it. That I am not." A self mocking half smile curved his handsome mouth totally captivating Kaoru who could not take her eyes off them. Kenshin noticed where she was looking and he carefully tilted her chin up until her eyes met his again. He could feel her trembling against him, and the arm he already had around her gently pulled her just a little closer.  
  
Her breathing quickened as he closed the space between their bodies capturing her hands between them where they were pressed against his chest. "Kaoru," his voice was a husky whisper as he leaned into her and pressed his forehead against hers. His free hand gently began to stroke the line of her cheek and the curve of her throat and collar bone. "Do you know how beautiful you really are?"  
  
She shivered as his fingers traced delicate pathways beneath her hair and across the sensitive skin of her nape. Pushing with slight pressure against his chest, she managed to free one of her hands which she used to tenderly touch the flesh of his back and shoulders wanting to touch him as well. To her astonishment, he trembled at her light touch, and she heard him catch his breath when she traced her fingers down his spine. "Kenshin?" she pulled away from him and looked into his face. His eyes were closed and there was an odd look of absorption about him. "Shouldn't I touch you?" She bit her lip in indecision afraid she had done something terribly wrong. "Am I not supposed to? I do not know anything about this kind of thing?" She stammered feeling like an idiot. "I mean... I have never... I have not.... oh dammit." She swore and jumped to her feet and  
  
walked away from the futon hugging her arms around herself trying to gain control over her raging emotions.  
  
Kenshin lay on his side in a state of complete shock. Everything had been perfect, and then... All at once Kaoru was asking him the most foolish questions he had ever heard, but before he could get his brain to function and reassure her everything was fine, she had stammered and stuttered herself into embarrassment and pulled away from him. 'I better do something to fix this.' He thought and stiffly got to his feet and quietly approached her.Gently he wrapped his arms around her from behind and pulled her back against him. Resting his chin on her slim shoulder, he held her stiff body silently until he felt it relax against him. Then slowly and tenderly he buried his face against her neck softly nuzzling his lips against the curve of her throat feeling her tremble in his arms. The tip of his tongue tentatively stroked the soft skin he found there, and she moaned letting her head fall back onto his shoulder as passion and pleasure claimed her at the same time.  
  
"Saiai," his breath was warm on her soft skin. "I enjoy your touch." He whispered into her small ear. "Perhaps more than you can possibly understand. You are my light, Kaoru. You are the heat that melts all my resolve." His arms loosened and he tenderly turned her in his arms so they faced one another then his hands gently cupped her face and he looked deep into her emotion filled eyes. "Listen to me, my koishii. I have been to a place that was so terrible I was almost certain I was not going to live through it, but deep within my heart I swore if I did there was one thing I was going to do. No matter what else I did, I was going to do this one thing... if I was ever given the  
  
chance."  
  
She searched his face trying to read his thoughts but not daring to guess or presume to guess what he was thinking. Despite what Yahiko and Makida-san had said to her, Kenshin's thoughts were still his own. Her hands had raised to grasp his upper arms instinctively holding on to him for support as her knees started to shake.  
  
Kenshin watched the play of emotions across her face. "What are you thinking my little koibito?" He asked in a soft voice as he looked deep inside her dark cobalt eyes. "Do you know what I promised myself I would do, Kaoru?" His voice was deepening to that husky whisper again, and Kaoru's body responded quickly by leaning towards him in a display of desire and need she could not control.  
  
"No." She was starting to tremble all over again. He had called her Kaoru twice now  
  
without any honorifics at all, and she could feel nervous butterflies battling for space inside her stomach.  
  
"I promised myself that I would tell you I loved you, that I did."   
  
Kenshin watched as those beautiful deep blue eyes closed for a moment then opened and looked up at him in astonished wonder. The sheen of unshed tears caught the light of the lamps in the room and glittered like a thousand tiny sapphires as she studied his face . "You do? You really love me?" 'Kami-sama, can it be true? Can he really love me??'  
  
"Yes," he smiled and kissed the tip of her nose then rubbed his against it. "I really do. Can you not tell, saiai? Can you not feel my heart and how it is beating for you? Can you not feel the aching loneliness in my soul? Can you not hear it crying out for you, for your soul?" His mouth was coming closer to hers as he slowly lowered his head and shifted it to one side. "Can you not feel me, my angel?"   
  
"Yes..." Her ragged answer was lost amidst the hunger of his kiss as he closed the short distance between them and captured her parted lips inside of his partially opened mouth. Kaoru moaned softly beneath the pressure, and she opened her mouth farther giving Kenshin deeper access to that delicious wet haven. His arms wrapped around her pulling her softness fully against the hard planes of his body. One hand rose to cradle the back of her head so he could increase the pressure and deepen the contact of his kiss, and the tip of his tongue touched the moist curve of her top lip.   
  
Kaoru became liquid heat in his arms, and the last of her nervous shyness smouldered and finally melted away. Her arms snaked around his waist, and her nails began to press into the skin of his shoulders as she pulled herself up against his body to return the fierceness of his embrace. Little primitive whimpering sounds escaped from her throat as the heat of Kenshin's kiss continued to burn her innocence away piece by piece, and instinctively her jaw slackened beneath the ravening passion of that kiss.   
  
Kenshin felt Kaoru's passionate and willing response to him, and his control over his emotional hunger began to slip. When he felt her chin drop, his tongue grew a mind of it's own and slide between her soft lips and began exploring the moistness of her mouth as well as seeking out and engaging in a passionate dance of desire with hers.   
  
A violent shudder quaked through Kaoru's body as he tasted deeply of her, and suddenly Kenshin had to clasp her more tightly against him as her knees buckled beneath her. He reluctantly released her mouth to look down into her flushed face. He gazed lovingly into huge deep blue passion filled eyes, at beautiful dark red lips swollen and quavering from the pressure of his kisses, and at her usually smooth raven black hair that was now hanging in tumbled disarray where his hands had mused it. She was the most beautiful woman Kenshin had ever seen.   
  
"I do love you, Kaoru. My koishii. With all my heart and soul. I will be yours forever, and I will never leave you again. I promise you that. I will never leave you again." Despite his obvious weakened condition, his arms remained strong enough to scooped her up as if she weighed no more than a feather. Kenshin carried her across the room to the futon where he kneeled down and laid her gently on her back, and then sat down next to her.  
  
Tender cool hands rose to touch his face, and he captured them to dust kisses along each finger and palm. "I love you too, Kenshin-saiai." That tenderly spoken phrase caused him to freeze, and Kenshin found himself unable to move or hardly even able to breath. "Did you hear me, Kenshin? I love you too." He was gripping her hands so tightly she had to set up to pull them free. She cupped his face again and tilted his chin so he would look at her, but his eyes were tightly closed . Kaoru could see the hint of moisture oozing out from beneath his thick eyelashes. "Kenshin?"  
  
Deep amethyst eyes, moist with unshed tears, looked at her from a pale uncertain face, but Kaoru just smiled and gently pressed her lips to his as she pushed strands of his long red hair out of his eyes. "I love you." She whispered again. "I love you, my beautiful ruroni. I love you." His hands reached out and grasped her tightly around the waist while he pressed his forehead against hers.  
  
"Kaoru." His voice cracked with emotion and she felt her heart lurch in her chest. "Beautiful Kaoru," he said again then tilted his head and took her lips into his own. Wrapping her arms around his neck and shoulders, she opened her mouth to him and tasted the saltiness of his tears on his lips. Then hands and fingers with a will of their own, wound themselves through the silken length of his glorious red hair stroking and combing it as she returned his ardent kisses with all the love she felt for him. As she did this, a ragged groan rose from deep within his chest and his mouth became a hungry thing against hers, and he lowered her gently to the futon beneath him.   
  
Kaoru's world started to spin out of control as Kenshin's hands started to loosen and remove her clothing, and then he began to explore the soft warm treasures he had uncovered. Her body arched and shivered with pleasure beneath the touch of his hands and his lips. Breathless with a passion she never knew existed, she offered her whole self, body and soul to him. It was a pure offering made without reservation or regret, and Kenshin felt as if he held heaven itself in his arms.  
  
As he smoothly ran his calloused hands intimately over her flesh, Kenshin knew he would never again be able to hold or love another woman. Kaoru was his light, his angel, his very salvation. Life would be incomplete and empty without her by his side. She made him whole again, and he could no longer exist without her.  
  
Kenshin knew Kaoru was a virgin, and he did everything he could to make this first  
  
experience for her as pleasurable and wonderful as he could. He kissed and touched and caressed her body until, when the moment came that he made her his, the pain of her innocence did not make any difference at all. It came and passed hardly being noticed by either of them.  
  
They lay side by side holding one another in the aftermath of their lovemaking simply enjoying the feel of each others skin being pressed together. Kaoru had never known that anything could be so wonderful or amazing as what had just happened between her and Kenshin. It had been like swimming in liquid light, and she was already thinking about the next time he held her that way.   
  
A physical expression of love. What a wondrous thing. Snuggling closer into the curve of his neck and shoulder, she closed her eyes and let a loving smile of contentment cross her full swollen lips.   
  
  
  
  
  
Kenshin lay on his back holding Kaoru against his side. He was idly stroking the soft flesh of her shoulder and thinking about the future and what he was going to do about her. 'I won't leave her again. That I will not.' He promised himself. 'I do not think I could now even if I tried. But what do I do when Saitoh and I have to leave for the mountains? I cannot take her with me out there. I cannot knowingly put her in that kind of danger, but.... how do I leave her here without her thinking I am leaving her behind again?' Instinctively he pulled her closer to him and pressed a kiss against her forehead. 'I will not regret doing this.' He vowed to his heart. 'These may be the  
  
only moments of happiness we ever have together.' Again he hugged her close. He did not want to think about that right now. Right now Kaoru was here, warm, and loving in his arms and that was all he was going to think about. That was all for now.   
  
So with that particular thought in mind, Kenshin carefully rolled over until Kaoru was underneath him again. No words were spoken between them, he just buried his lips against her throat and slid his hands beneath her hips and lifted her up against him. She gasped his name and dug her nails into his back as his hands and mouth touched her. Her heated response to him brought a satisfied smile to his lips just before they rose to claim hers. This was all he wanted to think about right now. Kaoru in his arms. This was all that mattered.   
  
  
  
************  
  
It was early afternoon when Kenshin and Kaoru sat down to eat a light meal of fruit, rice crackers, and tea. Both were wearing loose fitting yukata's that wrapped around their bodies and tied with a cord at the waist. Kaoru's was a pale shade of lightest lavender, while Kenshin's was a plain black bringing his long red hair to blazing life against its darkness. Unfortunately the black material also brought out the fact that he was very pale and ill looking as well. Now that Kaoru was able to take a long hard look at him, she could see what Sargent Makado was talking about. Kenshin really was just a mere shadow of the man he was when he left her in Tokyo a few short months ago, and her smooth brow wrinkled in frightened concern. He really did not look like himself at all. He was much too thin for her peace of mind..  
  
"Kenshin...?" Kaoru bit her lip as she tried to think of the best way to approach him with her concerns without upsetting his pride and dignity as a man.  
  
"Hmmm," he looked up at her from his plate one dark brown eyebrow raised expectantly. "Nani, Kaoru-dono?" Cocking his head to one side as he noticed her trepidation, he reached across the small table to cover her hand with his. "Are you alright? Kioshii?"   
  
Looking up into his concerned violet eyes, she smiled and shook her head laughing softly. "No, but that is Ok. It's just... " she let her free hand reach out to caress his face. "It is just I am worried about you. That is all it is really. I am just so worried about everything that seems to have happened to you since you left." Her fingers gently brushed stray strands of his hair off his forehead. "You are so thin, and you look so tired and run down. I have never seen dark circles like these under your eyes before."  
  
He caught her hand and brought it to his lips where he pressed a soft kiss into its palm. "Are you trying to tell me I look terrible, Kaoru-dono? That I look sick and weak?" He looked at her over her hand and held her gaze steadily. "Is that what you are trying to tell me without actually telling me?"  
  
Her mouth had suddenly turned too dry to form any intelligent sounds, so she had to answer him with a faint nod of her head. How did he know what she had been desperately trying NOT to insinuate to him? Her eyes closed as a feeling of sadness fell over her. 'Why can I not ever do anything the right way?' She asked herself. "I-I am not trying to tell you I think you're weak... please do not think that." The words that escaped her throat were chocked and raspy as she struggled to make her voice work again. "I am just... I..." She hummphed a sigh of futility and tried to pull her hand away from him, but he held it firmly refusing to relinquish it to her.  
  
"How do you know that is what I think?" He asked, his voice was tinged with irritation and just a note of impatience.   
  
Kaoru's head whipped up in stunned shock as she stared into his angry face. Kenshin had never spoken to her in that tone of voice before. In fact, she had never heard him speak to anyone they knew in that manner. "Kenshin... I-I'm s-s..." but he never let her finish.  
  
"How do you know what is in my mind Kaoru? Why do you not ever give me a chance to say any thing to you before you start trying to mollify my supposedly bruised ego?" He sighed in exasperation and pressed his forehead against the back of her hand. "Why can you not trust me?"  
  
"Trust you?!" Incredulity filled her voice. "Of course I trust you. How can you even say that to me? I have trusted you with my life, Yahiko's life, and more other lives that I can count. And you dare set there and have the audacity to say to me that I do not trust you!" She was almost yelling at him by the time she finished, but he remained unmoving from his position.  
  
"Kenshin!" She growled at him. "You better say something."  
  
"Or what, Kaoru? You will hit me.... Go ahead. Get it over with. I can wait until you are done." Kenshin's voice was flat and emotionless.  
  
"You can what?" Confusion replaced her anger. "Kenshin? What do mean you can wait  
  
until I'm done?"  
  
His eyes lifted and looked blandly at her confused face. "Just what I said, koishii. I can wait to finish this conversation until after you have vented your anger out by beating the shit out of me like you usually do. Once you are done, we can discuss this issue rationally." He dropped his head back down to her hand. "So, get on with it. Like I said, I can wait until you are finished. Just hurry, Ok. The sooner you are done, the sooner the headache will go away. That it will."  
  
Kaoru sat completely still unable to move at all. Is that how he really saw things between them? Was that how things REALLY were between them? Her head drooped as she struggled to think about what he had just said. Did she really hit him that much when she got angry with him? Did it really happen so often that he had come to expect it as a common occurrence in his daily life?  
  
"Oh Kami," she whispered. "It does." Suddenly she was seized by the uncontrollable urge to giggle, and the evil little demons of mirth started to tumble over her lips in an unstoppable stream before she could control the impulse. She tried to clamp her mouth closed without success, so she tried covering it with her free hand, but that didn't work either. Holding her breath seemed to be her last resort, but when she could not hold it any longer, the rush of absurd giggles spilled forward in an waterfall of sparking inane hilarity.  
  
Kenshin peeked furtively at her over the back of her hand an amused smile crossing his thin pale face. He could see her trying very hard to keep herself from laughing and losing that battle miserably until at last she burst into a full fledged fit of cascading giggles. A low laugh rumbled from his throat as he rose up to watch the spectacle she was making trying to cover up her spontaneous amusement. He had never seen Kaoru like this before. His chin dropped onto the back of her hand, and he found himself laughing with her.  
  
"Oh dear," she was breathless and her stomach hurt by the time she was able to get control of her giggling fit. "I haven't done anything like that for a really long time." Wiping a few tears from her burning eyes, she noticed the dancing violet ones watching her. "What are you looking at?" She demanded in a voice that was still laced with laughter.  
  
"Nothing." He shrugged with a devilish smile on his handsome face. "Just a pretty girl laughing herself silly for no reason."  
  
Kaoru tried to glare at him, but found the effort completely wasted as more giggles started to bubbled up her delicate throat when she caught the smirk growing on Kenshin's face. "Stop it." She threw her napkin at him. "I'm supposed to be mad at you." Laughing with undisguised merriment, Kenshin easily dodged the floating napkin then yanked Kaoru around the table so that she fell into an undignified pile in the middle of his lap. "Heeeyyy!" She squealed just before he tipped her over one of his thighs and began to tickle her sides. "Oooohhh nnoooo....! Keennnsshinnn...!" Her voice  
  
rose high on a scream of pure hysteria mixed with frenzied squeals of uncontrolled laughter.  
  
Kaoru's arms and legs flailed in the air ineffectually as she pleaded with Kenshin to stop his merciless torture.  
  
"Are you going to yell at me anymore?" He asked as he met her wild blue eyes with his mock stern violet ones.  
  
"No, no. I promise." She acquiesced breathlessly while frantically shaking her head.   
  
"Are you going to let me talk for a change before you go jumping to a bunch of conclusions that are going to do nothing but get ME into trouble?" The smile on his face was almost feral in its wickedness as he leaned closer to her face pressing his nose against hers.  
  
"Yes, yes I will I swear. Just please stop. I cannot stand anymore." Panicky blue eyes beseeched him for mercy as she pleadingly searched his face.  
  
"Hmmm, you seem sincere, but..." Leaning back, he let his fingers slid threateningly along the side of her rib cage while he watched with maliciously amused violet eyes as her eyes grow even huger than they already were. A soft but decidedly wicked laugh escaped him as he leaned down and buried his face in the ebony locks at her neck. "Don't worry, koishii, I am through. That I am." More laughter rose from his chest as a massive sigh of relief escaped her. "But I must tell you something," he whispered mockingly in her ear. "You are so beautiful when you panic." Then he pulled back to gently kiss her quavering lips. "Shall we finish our conversation now, jou-chan?"   
  
The voice turned serious and just a bit stern as he addressed her formally.  
  
"Yes, I guess we better before you do something else terrible to me." Kaoru's sarcasm pulled another deep laugh from the man who held her.  
  
"Alright, but you mind your manners, little jou-chan. Is that clear?"  
  
"Yes Sir, Himura-san." If he was going to call her a young lady, well she would just call him Mister. Violet eyes met blue and they exchanged an amused stubborn look.  
  
"Ka, Kaoru-dono. It seems you know your place." Kenshin watched her face closely for any reaction to his joke, but she just sat staring at him with that innocent look on her face. 'Hmmm,' He thought. 'I better watch myself.'  
  
"Alright, now where were we before you.... well, before things went the way they went?"  
  
She smiled and thought to herself. 'That was diplomatic of you. Chicken.' Out loud she said, "I believe you were accusing me of not trusting you, or something stupid like that. Yes, I believe that is what it was."  
  
"Uh-huh. And you forcefully disagreed as I recall. Is this true?" Himura Kenshin's Court of Diplomacy continued.  
  
"Yes, that is true. Himura-san." She smiled her most condescending without being  
  
completely disrespectful. His pursed lips and amused eyes took note both of the tone, and of the honorific.  
  
"I see, jouchan. Now, do you think it is possible for you behave like a proper adult? Can you set still for longer than two minutes and remain completely quiet?"  
  
"Nani?" She looked at him confused. All thought of being condescending and sarcastic forgotten. "What did you say?"  
  
"I know you're not deaf, Kaoru. I said, can you set quietly and not speak for more than two minutes?" Looking into his dark amethyst eyes, she could see that all joking had been abandoned and he was quite serious.  
  
"Of course I can." Her tone was haughty and irritated in an effort to cover up her previous misstep. "What kind of a question is that?"   
  
"It's a logical one, Kaoru. It is a known fact that whenever I start speaking to you, you always get angry and start yelling and beating on me, and I never get to finish what I want to say. That I do not." He forced her to look at him again. "Is this not true?"  
  
Kaoru squirmed uncomfortably in Kenshin's lap. He was right and she knew it, but she did not want to admit it. Not to him. Kuso!  
  
"Kaoru?" It felt like his eyes were penetrating her skull.  
  
"Yes, it's true." Dammit.  
  
"Ka. Now, I want you to swear to me that you will set right here and not move or speak until I am finished with what I have to say to you. Do you understand." She nodded her head dejectedly. "No matter how long it takes." Her head snapped around to meet his gaze in alarm. "Not one word, Kaoru. Not one. Even if it takes the rest of the day. I want your word. Your word as a swordswoman." Amethyst eyes deepened to a rich purple. "Your word, Kaoru."   
  
Swallowing hard to get past the lump in her throat, she met the forth rightness of his gaze as steady as she could. He wanted her word as a swordswoman. That meant she would be swearing on her honor as a warrior that she would not speak a single word until he had finished saying whatever he had to say. No matter how long it took. Kami... Kaoru felt a hand of profound unease close around her heart. Could she do it? She had never been able to keep her peace in her whole life. 'I have to do this.' She agonized in her mind. 'Kami-sama, please help me. Help me keep my damn mouth shut. Just this once, help me to not say a word until Kenshin is finished... no matter how long it takes.'  
  
"Alright, Kenshin." She lowered her head humbly. "You have my word as a swordswoman. I will not speak one word until you're finished."  
  
"No matter how long it takes, Kaoru?"  
  
She heaved a long sigh trying to calm her thundering heart and settle her jangled nerves. "Yes," she met his eyes levelly. "No matter how long it takes."  
  
"Very well." His voice softened to a warm and comforting tone, and his arms settled her more comfortably in his lap. Then he gently pulled her closer to his chest and rested his cheek on the top of her head. "I will tell you what I meant when I said you did not trust me."  
  
Kaoru closed her eyes and tried to prepare herself for one of the most difficult times of her life. Listening to Kenshin tell her she did not trust him, and not defend herself to him was going to be pure hell. She turned her face into his chest and grabbed a handful of his yukata and waited for him to begin.  
  
" When I said you did not trust me, koishii, what I meant was not with your life or the lives of the ones we love like Yahiko, Sano, and the girls. I meant you do not trust me to love you. You do not trust my patience , tolerance, or understanding of you and the person you are. Of all the people I have met in my life, you are perhaps the only one who sees me as all three of the men I have been and accepts me as each one and all at the same time." Soft lips caressed the top of her head and his arms tightened tenderly. "You have never seen the blood that stains my hands, or the guilt that eats away at my soul. You refuse to accept my opinion of myself, and continue to fervently preach to me  
  
what a good man I am NOW, and that I must stop living my life in the past where I can change nothing." A ragged sigh lifted his chest beneath her cheek, and she could hear the steady thud-thud, thud-thud of his heart as it beat his life's blood through his body.   
  
"You are the most brave, stubborn, willful, and argumentative woman I have ever known in my life. There is a fierceness inside your soul that draws me to you in ways I have not felt with any other woman before. You have captured my heart and captivated my soul, Kaoru, but in many ways you are also the bane of my life." He heard her catch her breath when he said this, and he tightened his embrace around her as she stiffened against him.  
  
"Listen to me, koishii." Kenshin's made his voice as gentle as he could. "Listen and understand. I had lived my life alone not caring for anyone, not worrying about anyone's safety but my own for nearly 11 years. The only people I cared about were strangers, but I was never attached to any of them. No one ever really mattered to me, but when I met you, everything in my world started to change. I found a home, a family, and I found something that was worth caring about. I found you, koishii. I found you, and my life has not been the same since."  
  
Kaoru felt a sob rising up in her throat as emotion raged through her. Her face was already laying on Kenshin's chest, so she just turned it the rest of the way and buried it in the curve of his shoulder as the tears began to fall.   
  
"Are you understanding me? My beautiful koishii? Can you finally see what I was trying to say to you when I said you did not trust me?" His lips brushed against her sensitive temple and let one hand raise up to stroke her silken ebony tresses. "Do you know how much I care for you? Kaoru? Do you know how much of my heart and soul you truly hold in your small strong hands?"  
  
Her head shook almost imperceptibly as she burrowed closer to him. Dipping his head lower, he whispered huskily into her small shell-like ear. "You hold all of them, my aikouka. You are my heart and soul."  
  
"Kenshin..." his name was a choking whisper that was muffled against the flesh of his throat.  
  
"Shhhh," he cradled her close like a precious child. "Don't cry, Kaoru. Not over me loving you so much. I wanted it to make you happy, not make you cry. Please don't cry, Sweetheart. You'll tear my insides to pieces."  
  
"Oh Kenshin, I am not sad. OH NO!!" She shot straight up and her hands clamped over her mouth. Blue eyes wide with horrified guilt stared at his face as she realized she had just broken her promise to him. The words had just tumbled out of her mouth before she knew if he was finished or not. It had just happened. Kuso!  
  
Kenshin stared at her tear wet face in confusion trying to figure out what was the matter with her until he realized what she was thinking. He tossed his head back and let himself laugh. "Oh my wonderful, funny koishii." He pressed his nose against hers. "I was finished, that I was."   
  
"You were??" Her soft trembling hand touched his face with the lightest of touches.  
  
"Yes, that I was." He turned his head so he could softly kiss those hesitant fingers.  
  
"I did not break my word?" Sparkling anxious sapphires searched his face earnestly as she voiced her fears. "Was I honorable? Did I make it?"  
  
"No my saiai. You did not break your word, and yes, you were honorable." Tender lips kissed her damp cheeks as his warm hands cradled her head. "You were magnificent. You were beautiful. You are the most wondrous woman in this world." His lips were dusting kisses over her eyes, her forehead, her nose, her chin. "I love you, my beautiful Kaoru. Please never doubt that because it will always be true." And he pulled her into a deep embrace as his mouth closed over  
  
hers and his arms crushed her to his chest.  
  
'I love you too, my beautiful, beautiful ruroni.' Kaoru's heart whispered these words fervently to the man who held her so close to his heart. 'I will love you always.'  
  
As he released her mouth and buried his face in the creamy flesh of her throat, he heard her whisper in his ear. "Don't let go of me, Kenshin. Please, don't ever let go of me." The implication of what she meant seemed to be the last binding tie around his heart and soul, and a rush of love he had never thought he was capable of feeling spilled out of him and enveloped the incredible woman he held.  
  
"I will not, Kaoru." His voice was raspy and thick with the fierceness of his feelings. "I swear to you I will never let go of you. Masaka." He claimed her lips once more, and the lovers became lost to the world around them as they found a new world of their own inside each others hearts. 


	6. Reunions and Decisions

Standard Disclaimers apply.   
  
Translation glossary... fusuma=indoor door, jou-chan=young lady, kuso=bullshit or shit, saiai=beloved, koishii=dear or darling, Bakumatsu=Revolution, Hyoikyo=possession, tasukete=helpmate or HELP!, senshi=Old Teacher, kirei=beautiful,  
  
Enshi=Northern township(my own)  
  
Chapter Six  
  
Reunions and Decisions  
  
  
  
A fierce pounding on the fusuma to Kenshin's room made the red haired man roll over onto his stomach and groan. "Not now, Juno-san. It's too cold to get up yet." He mumbled into his pillow only half awake and pulled the warm quilts up over his head. Juno Fusha was the matronly proprietress of the boarding house he had stayed in while investigating rumors of three unexplained murders in the village of Rohan, and she believed everyone needed to be awake when the Sun  
  
peeked over the horizon. She had made certain Kenshin was awake bright and early every fridgid morning he had stayed with her. To his consternation the pounding continued with an irritating persistence until he finally opened his eyes and joined the ranks of the alert and aware.  
  
  
  
Laying beside him, with her mass of raven tresses spread out across his pillow and tangled with his own long length of fiery red hair, was the beautiful face of Kamiya Kaoru. Kenshin stared at her for a full minute in absolute shock, until the memories of the day before began to filter back to him bringing a tender smile to his sleepy face. A languid feeling of lazy warmth descended over him, and he relaxed remembering what had happened between them on this futon. The ferocious pounding of a huge fist on his door rudely interrupted his loving absorption with the woman in his bed, and he realized that was what had woken him up.   
  
  
  
Kenshin pulled himself up onto one elbow glaring at the offending door wondering who in the hell could be beating on his fusuma this early in the morning. Looking towards the only window, he noticed that the light of the Sun was just barely starting to penetrate through the cracks in the wooden covering. It could not be the proprietor or his wife because Kenshin had left strict instructions several days ago that he was not to ever be disturbed in the mornings, and they had been very respectful of that request. His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as once again he wondered who was braving his wrath by waking him up so early. The answer to his question was not long in coming as the next round of beating was accompanied by a loud and decidedly crude voice.  
  
  
  
"Hey, wake up in there. You two should be reacquainted with each other again by now, and you should be done with whatever else you've been doing. So get up already. We have things to discuss. Kenshin? Are you planning on sleeping all day? Do I have to come in there and pull the two of you out of that bed? Kenshin??"  
  
"Kami... Master!" Suddenly it did not matter how cold the air or the floor was, Kenshin leapt out of bed and raced to the door. "I'm awake, Master. I'm awake, but I need a few minutes to... ahhh, freshen up, alright?" Kenshin was praying the impatient man would agree, and not just come barging in. He shot an anxious look over his shoulder at the still sleeping Kaoru, and sent another fervent prayer to Kami-sama to keep his Master on the other side of the door for a few more minutes. Dammit.  
  
"Freshen up?" A round of coarse laughter passed easily through the rice paper of the fusuma. "What's the matter, baka-deshi? Aren't you appropriate for company yet, or is it that the jou-chan is indisposed?" More laughter followed the off color statement. "Perhaps you need assistance?"   
  
Kenshin sighed in exasperated irritation. "He will never change," he muttered under his breath and gave up the ruse. "Very well. If you could be patient a little longer, we will only be a few moments, Master. I am most grateful for your understanding in this matter. Thank-you for waiting."   
  
"Very well. But do not make me wait all day out here." Hiko's voice lost its sarcastic edge and took on a decidedly insolent tone. "It's cold and windy out here on this poor excuse for an engawa, and my patience has just about been used up trying to get your lazy ass out of bed."  
  
"Yes Sir." Asshole. Kenshin abruptly went back to the futon and gently shook Kaoru awake. "Koishii, wake up. We have a problem."   
  
Kaoru opened sleepy blue eyes and looked at her lover in bemusement. "Oh Kenshin, when don't we have problems" her hand touched the cross scar on his cheek tenderly. "Tell me, what terrors and horrors do we have to face today?"  
  
"Seijurou Hiko."  
  
"Whaat?!" She sat straight up with a look of alarm on her pale face. "Where?"  
  
"He's outside the door."  
  
"Right now?"  
  
"Right now."  
  
"Kuso!"  
  
"Kaoru!!" Kenshin's amethyst eyes widened in alarm when he heard her curse outloud.  
  
"What?" she looked at him innocently. "What?"  
  
Giving her a smile that said he was not fooled by the look, he threw her yellow yukata right in her face. "Here, get dressed. He's not going to wait much longer."   
  
Hurriedly the two pulled on their robes and rolled up the fulton and folded away the bedding as quickly as possible. "Whew," Kaoru exclaimed in releif. "I'm glad that didn't take long. All right," she waved Kenshin towards the door. "Go let the monster in before he does something rotten."  
  
Kenshin rolled his eyes as a hundred and one things his Master could do just to be spiteful tumbled though his mind as he walked to the door and opened it.  
  
"It took you long enough." Hiko glared at Kenshin through narrowed green eyes even as he secretly examined him from head to toe. Inwardly he frowned as he saw for himself what Saitoh had told him. Kenshin was thin and pale and definitely did not look at all like himself. Outwardly he maintained his persona of impatience and irritation. "I see your manners haven't improved since the last time I saw you." At the confused look on Kenshin's face, he clarified. "You haven't invited me in yet. Idiot."  
  
"Please, come in, Master. Forgive my tardiness." Asshole. Kenshin rarely cursed out loud, but what he muttered in the back of his mind was his own business.  
  
"Thank-you, my baka-deshi." Hiko savored a private chuckle as he observed Kenshin's obvious attempt to remain respectful in the face of his absolutely inexcusable rudeness. "He does have patience. I have to give him that." The thought settled in his mind as his eyes searched for and found the young lady who had left Myojin-san and himself at the Police Station so cursorily the day before.  
  
"Ahhh, I see you are in... good health, Kamiya-dono." He watched Kaoru blush furiously at his suggestive innuendo. "I am glad." His long legs carried him to the small table to one side of the average room. "I was quite worried when Myojin-san told me you had rushed off on your own to find this baka without waiting for anyone to go with you." Sharp emerald eyes pierced through her as he sat down on the smooth wooden floor. "That really wasn't very responsible of you, was it?"  
  
Kaoru found herself fidgeting with her hands, and totally unable to meet Hiko's gaze just then as he reprimanded her in front of Kenshin for her careless behavior. "No, I suppose it wasn't." She felt embarrassed and foolish, and a deep reddish stain burned up her neck and colored her cheeks.  
  
Hiko smiled with a touch of malicious pleasure at the girls obvious discomfort. "Touche." He thought. "Payback for the ship." He settled his large frame on the floor next to the table, and turned an expectant gaze on her. "Good, I'm glad you can see that. Now, make yourself useful and go brew some hot tea. I'm absolute freezing." When Kaoru did not move right away, he looked at her with one elegant black brow raised sardonically. "You do know how to brew tea, don't you? We all know you cannot cook, but you can brew a pot of tea?"   
  
"Ewwwww!" Kaoru stomped her small foot in anger, and swung away from Hiko and stormed to the kitchen area mumbling violently under her breath.  
  
"You really shouldn't do that. She can be a bit formidable when she gets angry." Kenshin sat down across from his Master. "Besides that, she can be vindictive as well."  
  
"Vindictive?" Hiko looked questioningly as Kenshin. "She is just a little girl. What could she possibly do?" He cast another thoughtful look in Kaoru's direction. "Vindictive you say?"   
  
"Um-hum. She never forgets anything, and she will exact her retribution eventually." He cast a loving but apprehensive look in the dark haired woman's direction where he could hear angry muttered words and threats drifting out. "She always remembers."  
  
"Hmmm. Can't say I'm afraid of one little jou-chan whose no bigger than my finger." A rare smile curved his stern mouth making Kenshin gape. "But, she has got a lot of spirit. I have learned that the last few days traveling with her. I'm not sure I could take a steady diet of her or not. She is nosey, she is stubborn, and she is far too opinionated for her own good. I can only imagine what her temper must be like." He let a devilish smile curve his thin lips. "I hope you are up to the  
  
challenge, I am not sure if I envy you or not." The sideways glance caught a faint blush creeping up Kenshin's cheeks as he lowered his eyes. "However; she would be a rare tigress to try and tame and claim as your own. Yes, she would."  
  
"Why do you say these things, Master? Why do you speak so basely about Kaoru-dono as if she were a prize to be won or a commodity to be bought? She is one of the kindest and finest women I have ever known. I would know why you feel you can speak of her in such a crude and disrespectful way?" Kenshin's voice sounded like a low growl to Hiko and it surprised him. This was a tone he had never heard from his apprentice directed toward him before. 'How interesting.' He thought. 'I think I've actually made him angry. I wonder why?'  
  
A thoughtful look passed over Seijurou Hiko's face unseen by his apprentice. Emerald eyes, usually so hard and impenetrable, softened a fraction and rested insightfully on the young red haired swordsman. He considered Kenshin's reactions to his off color statements for several moments as he studied his stony profile. 'He loves her.' The realization of that fact startled Hiko a little bit. He knew Kaoru loved his apprentice, and he was aware that Kenshin had some feelings for Kaoru, but, love? Love had not come to his mind, but it was obvious to him now as he listened to the carefully restrained fury in Kenshin's voice that he loved her deeply. The younger man was fighting very hard to maintain his control so as not to disrespect his senshi, but he was still looking for a way to defend Kaoru's honor. Hiko felt a small bud of humilty start to grow in his heart if not a touch of guilt. 'Alright,' he said to himself. 'I'll try to respect this relationship... as much as I can. God knows I'm too used to torturing him to avoid it completely.'  
  
"I only meant that such a high spirited woman is rare to find, especially one who already loves you." Emerald eyes looked thoughtfully at the woman in question as he tried to salvage the situation. "Women like that are difficult to live with because the man never knows who is the head of the house. Him or her. So, the man tries to make it an equal relationship, but there are few men strong enough to accept that kind of a relationship, and he ends up breaking her will and destroying her spirit." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kenshin raise his eyes and look thoughtfully at Kaoru as she poured boiling water into the tea pot. "A broken woman is a terrible thing, Kenshin. She becomes a shadow of her former self, and slowly wastes away until despair and uselessness eat her soul completely away."  
  
"But why would any man want to break such a beautiful thing as a strong spirit in the woman he loves? Is that not one of the things that drew him to her in the beginning?" Kenshin's voice was low and thoughtful.  
  
"Yes, but the reality of it is not what he expects. He begins to feel threatened by her. She is as emotionally, spiritually, and sometimes as physically strong as he is and his male prowess cannot accept that. So, he must diminish her and make her less than he is in order to preserve his sense of personal power and superiority over her."  
  
"But that is wrong, Master. A strong woman is a gift to her husband not a burden."  
  
Raven eyebrows raised in astonished surprise. "Why do you say that?"  
  
"Because, a strong woman can stand beside a man and help him as well as another man. Whether she is helping him fight for their lives, or just helping him make a life together, her added ki and physical strength should be considered a tasukete."  
  
"A help mate?"  
  
"Yes. People are supposed to help each other irregardless of position or social class, why should it be different for a man and his aisai? She is the one he goes to for comfort and solace when he is weary or downhearted. It is in her arms where he finds love and acceptance. His wounds are mended by her hands. The warmth of her body next to him keeps the cold of the long winter nights at bay. She is everything to him." Kenshin's words became soft and filled with emotion. "She is his life, why would she not be his equal as well?" Deep purple eyes turned to gaze seriously at his Master's hard planed face. "Why would any man want to break the will and spirit of such a woman? Such a thing would be a wonder to behold and experience. He should get on his knees every day of his life and thank Kami-sama for allowing him to call her his wife."  
  
Hiko did not get the chance to answer because Kaoru came plodding back to the table with the tea tray laden with teapot, three cups, some fruit and bread, and a few other things that looked like they might be eatable that she found in Kenshin's cupboards.   
  
Kneeling down with practiced ease, she carefully sat the tray on the table and handed each man a neatly folded white napkin.To Hiko she said, "Your tea, Hiko-san." Her voice was dripping with honey as she handed the large man a previously poured cup. Kenshin eyed her with worried violet eyes. He knew she was her most dangerous when she was like this. He watched in uneasy silence as Hiko took a swig of the tea from his cup. Kaoru was smiling her sweetest and most beautiful smile as she looked straight forward, hands folded subserviently in the lap of her yellow yukata. "Oh Kami..." Kenshin's mind moaned in desperation. "Kaoru, what did you do?" But all he could do was watch and wait. He did not have to wait long.  
  
"Sssppplllltttt..... aarrghhh..... Kuso!!" Hiko spat the offending liquid out of his mouth all over the floor. "What in the hell did you do to it you little .... " he stopped himself just before he said something they would all regret. Instead he turned a furious yellow-green glare in Kaoru's direction only to find her still setting with the sweet serene look on her face, hands folded demurely in her lap seemingly oblivious to his difficulties. "Are you trying to poisen me, jou-chan?" He groweled shoving the cup under her nose.   
  
Kaoru took the cup almost absent mindedly from Hiko's furiously trembling fingers, and filled it with fresh tea. She added a small amount of honey and stirred it in with the small bamboo whip and handed the cup back to him all the while maintaining her facial expression. After he had taken the cup and sniffed it for any foreign odors, he took a careful sip and found the tea to be quite tasteful.   
  
"Well, this is much better."  
  
"You can apologize to me now, Hiko-san." Kaoru's voice was bright and airy like they had been discussing something very pleasant or even humorous. Kenshin coughed as he choked on his tea. He had been watching the entire exchange with horrified merriment as Kaoru exacted her retribution from his surly Master for his earlier insult, but this was outrageous. His eyes were huge with uneasy expectation as they slid to and fro between the two antagonists.  
  
"I can what? What did you say to me, jou-can?" He emphasized the young lady trying to make her back down and learn her place, but she did not acquiesce. Her face and demeanor remained unchanged.  
  
"I said, you can apologize to me now."  
  
"For what may I ask?" Sarcasm and irritation filled his deep baritone voice.  
  
"For insulting me earlier. Of course." Stupid.  
  
"Insulting.... What on earth are you talking about you stupid girl? I haven't insulted you. I was merely asking if you possessed the skilled needed to prepare a suitable pot of tea. I see no reason for you to try and kill me because of that." He was looking at her like she was the biggest idiot in the would. "Baka-jou-chan." He muttered.  
  
"Arrogant bastard...." she muttered back, and Kenshin's head shot up over his teacup.  
  
"KAORU!!" He admonished her fiercely his eyes turning a light shade of amber.  
  
Thick black lashed blue eyes dropped in apology. "Sorry..." she mumbled.  
  
"What did you say? I don't think I quite heard you?" Kenshin leaned toward her and lifted her chin with two of his fingers. "Would you repeat that please so everyone can hear it."  
  
Kaoru met those pale amber eyes knowing she had gone too far, but she was damned if she was going to regret what she had done. She understood she should not have said what she just had, but he had deserved it. At least she thought so.  
  
"Kaoru? I'm waiting." The voice she loved so much was tainted with hard disapproval, and she flinched a little beneath it abrasion. 'He's really mad at me.' She chewed on her lower lip in worry.  
  
Clamping her eyes tightly shut so she didn't have to look at his face, she opened her mouth and said, "I am sorry." just loud enough for him to hear and waited for him to chide her for her bad behavior like he usually did, but nothing happened. His fingers did not let go of her jaw, and he did not say anything either. Kaoru was not sure what to do next, so she just sat there and waited getting more uncomfortable by the second.  
  
The two men watched the girl scrunch her eyes shut and squeak out an apology, and then just sit like a stone statue doing nothing. Hiko was trying very hard not to give into laughter just from looking at the silly picture she made, while on the other hand, Kenshin was looking at her face waiting for her to open her eyes so she could see everything was alright, and that he was not really mad at her anymore. In fact, he was having a difficult time not laughing a bit himself over her behavior, but he could not allowed her to be blatantly disrespectful to his Master no matter the circumstances. Even if the arrogant so and so did deserve it.  
  
Finally one blue eye peaked open and saw amused violet ones watching her closely. The other eye opened and Kenshin's whole face came into focus. The anger was gone, and he seemed to be waiting for something from her though she could not think what else he wanted. After all, she had apologized to the big...   
  
"Wh-what?" She looked at him in puzzlement spreading her hands out in confusion. "What else?"  
  
Smiling with gentle humor, he leaned forward and gently kissed her cheek then whispered. "Everything is alright now, Koishii, but you had better watch your manners and your language from now on or I may be forced to use more drastic measures to curb your behavior." Her eyes widened with alarm as her mind started to imagine what 'drastic measures' meant, but he just smiled and kissed her cheek again.  
  
"Are you finished?" Hiko's dry bored voice interrupted their small private moment, and Kenshin rolled his eyes in irritation. "I told you, we have things to discuss, and I really do not have time to watch the two of you play house."  
  
"All right, Master." Kenshin turned an impatient look onto his senshi's arrogant face. He had reached the end of his patience, and his voice reflected that fact as he spoke. "I am so very sorry that we have caused such a delay in your busy day. Please," He spread his hands wide in open invitation. "Please, continue with whatever it is that is so damn important that you must be here at this ungodly hour causing havoc and duress and whatever other mischief you can?"  
  
"My, my... you should have had a woman in your life years ago, Kenshin. You have actually grown some backbone." Then the sardonic smile suddenly vanished and Hiko became coldly serious, his eyes turning to green ice. "All right, lets cut through all the bullshit." He tried to pin Kenshin with a fierce glare to emphasize the importance of his visit, but to his inner consternation, he found it had no affect. The other man continued to look at him in angry impatience.   
  
"I am here because I had a long talk with your friend Hajime Saitoh yesterday, and he told me some very interesting things about you and your latest mission."   
  
Kenshin's eyes falmed golden amber and his voice dropped to a deep threatening tone that made Hiko take a closer look at him. "Just exactly what did he tell you?"  
  
"He told me a few things about the Taki Mountains, some mysterious murder reports, and rumors of..." He paused and watched Kenshin's face closely. "Hyouko."  
  
"Why in the hell did he do that?" Despite his damaged ki, Kenshin's fury was a tangible thing around the three people in the room. As his voice deepened and evolved into the growl of a feral beast, his eyes exploded into sunbursts of liquid gold sending shivers of unease up Hiko's spine despite all his years of training and fighting.   
  
"No one else was supposed to know." Kenshin's head dipped slightly causing his eyes to take on a wolfish look increasing the sense of danger growing around him. "We agreed to that. We agreed it would be best that only the two of us know about this." With teeth bared and lips pulled back in a snarl, his voice rose high on a note of ferocious incredulity. "WHY IN THE HELL DID HE TELL YOU???!!"  
  
  
  
Hiko felt a flash of shock and... pain? pierce through his heart and soul when he heard those bitterly cried words spoken from his apprentice. He had expected Kenshin to be surprised at Saitoh's revaluations to him, but this explosion of anger and venom had caught him completely off guard. Instinctively he pulled away from the enormous amount of negativity he felt emanating from Kenshin's damaged ki. It was actually painful for him to let it touch him. This was going to be more  
  
difficult that he had originally imagined.  
  
"Kenshin," he began in a calm and reasonable tone. "Let me explain."  
  
"Explain? Explain? Explain that it appears I can trust no one, even among my own enemies." He threw his head back and barked a horrible grating sound that should have been laughter but failed. Hands white with rage raked through his long red hair nearly yanking it out by the roots in large handfuls. Kenshin's control on his raging fury was sliping.   
  
"Why does this anger you so much? That Saitoh has told me about your experiences? Or the fact that I know at all?"  
  
"You even have to ask?" another attempt at laughter failed. "Oh please, I had always believed you to be the most intelligent man I had ever known Master, yet you can ask me a foolish question like that. I feel insulted you would waste your breath on such blather. Huurmmph."  
  
"I don't understand what you're saying, Kenshin. What does my intelligence have to do with your anger?"  
  
At last Kenshin achieved some form of laughter, but it was a bitter ironic sound that made Kaoru shudder and flinch even as she reached out a comforting hand and laid it on his tense arm.  
  
"How much amusement did you enjoy at my expense over this little tale, my beloved senshi? It must have lasted you through at least two jugs of good sake. How many times did you toast the insanity of your baka-deshi?" His voice was hard and cold as the frozin ice lakes, and it seemed his eyes were becoming a dark rich golden color that began to take on an eerie other worldly glow. As Hiko and Kaoru watched the aberrant phenomenon in mounting unease, those frightening eyes started to cast what appeared to be a faint yellowish glow of pulsing light outward into the shadowy confines of the room.   
  
At that moment a sense of profound nervousness seized Hiko and he found it difficult to speak higher than a mild conversational tone. "So, you assume because of our past associations together, that I would not believe anything he told me." Suddenly Hiko's hands became very important to him, and he began to clean his nails. He could not look at Kenshin's face, or his eyes.  
  
"Master, you hardly believe in Kami or Buddha, why should you even consider that anything in this tale of mine is or could possibly be truth or fact. I know you too well." Kenshin covered his face with his hands. Suddenly all the fury and rage seemed to just drain out of him leaving him weak and spent. "God, how could Saitoh have told you? You of all people in this world? Why you? I might have been able to accept anyone else, but not you. Not you... not ever you. Oh Kami...."  
  
"Kenshin..." Kaoru's gentle voice and her touch on his shoulder made him drop his hands and look at her. "What is this all about?" Concern and a look of fear clouded her beautiful face, and he tried to smile reassuringly, but failed miserably.   
  
She was so beautiful. She was his light, his solace... his life. "Don't worry, Kaoru-kirei." His voice was no more than a echo of itself. "Everything is alright. Please do not be afraid or upset.It will all work out. I promise." A gentle calloused hand stroked her pale cheek as he looked at her worried face. "Maybe you should go to the other side of the room until we are finished with this. I do not know if you should hear it."  
  
Deep worry and alarm clouded her eyes. "Are you trying to keep something from me, or hide it from me. Kenshin?"  
  
"Neither. I am just not sure I want you exposed to it, Kaoru." His eyes had become very sad and distant.  
  
"Exposed?" What a strange word.  
  
"Yes. It is nothing like we have ever experienced before, and I have not yet decided what to do where you are concerned yet. I have to keep you safe, koishii. If anything happened to you, I could not ... " Amber eyes closed tight and he pulled her close pressing their foreheads together for a moment. "I would not be able to live with myself if anything happened to you because of this. Do you understand?"  
  
"Is it really that dangerous?" she sounded frightened.  
  
"I will not lie to you, Kaoru. The things I have seen and heard; there are things that I know now but dare not speak even to myself." His voice took on a odd quality she had never heard before. " I have never known what it meant to be afraid, Kaoru. To be truly afraid, but I have seen the face of Hell and I cannot take you there. I cannot take you to a place where I am too afraid to go, but know I must. You are too important to me. Please understand. Please." The urgency of his voice begged her to trust him.  
  
"Kenshin," The sound of a low baritone voice interrupted the intimate moment between the red-haired Samurai and his Lover. "Do you really think I can set here and watch you like this and not believe every single word you said to Saitoh? If I had not already believed everything you told him, I would not be sitting here trying to talk to you about it." Hiko's voice was a quiet sturdy anchor pulling Kenshin back to the reality of his present situation. He backed away from Kaoru and looked at his Master with fading amber eyes filled with distrust and doubt.  
  
Kenshin's face was guarded and skeptical as he faced Hiko. He was unsure whether to believe him or not. The man had so often played at words with him that he found he did not totally trust what he had just said. "Are you saying you believe me? You actually believed what I told  
  
him?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"All of it??"  
  
"All of it. Every single horrible, bloody insane, terrifying, and unholy word." He met Kenshin's amber gaze straight forward without wavering trying to show the younger man that he said was sincere. "And it scared the living shit out of me. I am not certain how you survived with your mind and senses intact, Kenshin. There are not many who could after seeing what you have. I do not know if I could have. We will see."  
  
"You believe me...." Kenshin's voice was barely above a whisper and both Kaoru and Hiko had to strain to hear him.   
  
"Yes, dear boy. I believe you." Hiko's hand grasp Kenshin's shoulder for emphasis.  
  
Kenshin dropped his head until his chin touched his chest and his long red hair fell forward to obscure his face. Shoulders that were so much thinner than the man he had been weeks earlier began to shake and tremble, and his hands reached out groping for and finding Kaoru's. Grasping them with urgent need, he hugged them close to his wildly beating heart. The rasping sound of a voice filled with uncontrollable emotions leaked out through the tangled strands of his hair. "You truly believe me, Master?"  
  
"Yes." Hiko's tone was gentle and reassuring in the face of Kenshin's emotional storm.  
  
"Thank-you, Master. Thank-you." And tears began to fall onto the four clasped hands over Kenshin's heart.  
  
"Oh Kenshin." Kaoru felt tears burn her eyes as she finally understood that Kenshin was experiencing a sense of profound relief and disbelief, and a sense of having his soul reprieved over a matter that had weighed more heavily on his conscience than most. His honor had been restored in the eyes of his Master. The baka-deshi was not the fabricator of insane outlandish tales. Seijurou Hiko believed him.  
  
Kaoru pulled her hands free and wrapped her arms around his trembling shoulders. Pulling him into a comforting embrace, she nestled him against the warmth of her breasts and began rocking him gently back and forth. His arms slid around her waist and he buried his face against her softness seeking out the solace of her nurturing warmth.   
  
"Everything will be alright now, koishii." Her voice soothed him. "Everything will be alright. I will hold onto you, and everything will be alright." A gentle hand stroked the back of his head and his hair in a calming fashion, and slowly the trembling in his body began to fade away.  
  
"Hiko-san?" Narrow green eyes that had been contemplating a scuff mark on his boot, slid in her direction and met her worried blue gaze. "Could he die? Doing whatever this thing is Saitoh told you about? Could Kanshin die doing it?" Kaoru's eyes searched Hiko's introspective face. "Is it really that dangerous?"  
  
"Yes, Kamiya-dono." He nodded in sympathy. I am sorry, but it is that dangerous. I am planning to go with Kenshin and Saitoh now that I know what they are facing, and it is true, what we must do could kill all of us, but it is something that must be done. It must be done!" His voice was harsh and hard in his convictions. "There is no other way."  
  
"There is no other choice?"  
  
"No, there is no other choice. Innocents are dying, and the world has become the playground of the Hyoukyo."  
  
Kaoru had heard Hiko say that word to Kenshin once before, but she didn't know what it meant. Her brows creased in deep thought. "I have never heard of hyoukyo before, and you said innocents are dying. What does one have to do with the other?"  
  
Hiko looked at Kaoru's lovely face. 'Strong women.' He thought. 'Equals.'  
  
"Hyoukyo stands for someone who is possessed by a demon or a devil. See if you can figure the rest out yourself. I don't want to be the one responsible for giving you any information about this bloody situation."   
  
"Demons? Devils? Innocents dying?" Kenshin stirred in her arms trying to pull away as he spoke. His voice was muffled voice tinged with anxiety.  
  
"Don't Kaoru. Do not think about it. Stop thinking about it NOW. Don't.... " Kenshin knew how intelligent Kaoru was, and how logically her mind could work when she applied herself, and he desperately needed to stop her from thinking about this. But it was already too late.  
  
"OH KAMI!!!" she cried. "Oh God, noooo..." The horrified plea filled the shadowy room as reality hit Kamiya Kaoru. Everything had started to fall into place. The things Hiko had said. 'Murders, demon possession, innocents, unholy... "They are killing the children! Oh God, please tell me they are not killing the children?" But one look at Hiko's stern emotionless face confirmed her worst fears. "No. No. No. No. Nooooooo...." She buried her face in Kenshin's hair and cried in horror.  
  
"Oh God, Kaoru... I told you not to think about it. I told you to stop." Kenshin pulled himself from her embrace and crushed her against him in his. "Dammit," he cursed. "I did not want you to know anything about this. I did not want it to touch you." One of his hands pulled her head against his shoulder and nestled her face snugly against the warm curve of his throat while he pressed his cheek tightly against the side of her neck. His other arm wrapped around her body and pulled her tightly into him as he tried to absorb her pain into his own flesh. "Koishii, please do not cry. Please. I cannot bear it when you cry. I do not know what to do when you cry this way." Hot tears began to slid down his face, and his arms tightened around her. "Please, Kaoru. Do not cry like this. I am sorry, my little one. I am so sorry."  
  
"She is a strong woman, Kenshin." Seijurou Hiko gripped Kenshin's shoulder in a strong hand. "Stronger than you give her credit for, I think." Pale violet eyes looked at Hiko's face in helpless pain. "All you need to do is hold her until she comes to terms with what her mind has discovered for itself, then she will move on. It a woman's way." He tried to nod reassuringly but Kenshin was too worried about Kaoru to notice. "I think maybe the two of you need to take care of each other for a while after all of this turmoil and upheaval." Hiko caught Kenshin's gaze and held it firmly. Kenshin nodded and rested his cheek against Kaoru's forehead.  
  
"What is Saitoh's plan now?" he asked flatly. "I feel completely thrown off the path, and I am not sure where to go or what to do at the moment. I feel much confusion, Master."  
  
"I know you do, and I think I understand why. But I do not want you to worry about the plan, all right." The deep voice started to sound almost comforting to Kenshin. "Saitoh and I are going to start looking at the things that need to be done, and the things and people that must be protected. One or the other of us will visit you as often as needed to keep you updated on our ideas so don't think you are going to be left out of the loop." Green eyes searched deepening amethyst for understanding, and found it. "But your main focus is on getting your body well again Your ki is very badly damaged, you are thin and hysically weakened. You are practically defenseless the way you stand now, and you will be no match for them if you return too soon, and I have no intention of allowing you to become a sacrifice... again."   
  
Hiko'o emerald eyes moved to gaze thoughtfully at the young woman in Kenshin's arms. "You have far too much to live for, my boy. It's time you did some living." Having said that, he climbed to his feet and walked to the door of Kenshin's room. Then he paused. "Remember one thing, my deshi, we are all only human even if what we face is not; however, even the smallest soul can overcome the most insurmountable odds if he fights with his whole heart and soul and always keeps foremost in his mind those things that are the most precious to him." And he turned to leave.  
  
"What is most precious to you, Master?" Kenshin's concerned voice stopped Hiko dead in his steps.   
  
"Precious to me?" He was stunned by the question.  
  
"Yes. I know why I will fight to live. I will fight for Kaoru and Yahiko, Sano and Migumi-san. I will fight for those I consider to be my family; the people I love. I will fight to stay alive so I can come back to them when this is over. I will even be fighting for you, Master, but I wonder, what will you fight for? I cannot remember you ever holding anything close to your heart. There is no one person, no one thing. Tell me Master, you are not planning on... " The soft voice pulled at heart strings Hiko did not want to listen to right now. He could not listen to them right now.  
  
"There are things close to my heart, deshi. Important things I find very much worth fighting and living for. So, do not worry, I do not intend on becoming a sacrifice either." The loud thuds of his booted feet on the wooden floor echoed in the room long after he had left.  
  
*********  
  
"So, how did he look to you?" Saitoh spared a glance for Hiko over the stack of papers on his ever laden desk.  
  
"Terrible. He looks like a damn scarecrow with purple eyes." Hiko snorted and slumped in the hated wooden chair in front of Saitoh's desk. "He's too thin."  
  
"I told you what he looked like. I cannot believe you are surprised." Narrowed topaz eyes studied him for a moment in derisive boredom. "And how was the girl?"  
  
"Kamiya?" Dark eyebrows raised in puzzeled amusement. "She seems to be fine. None the worse for wear if that is what you are getting at." Saitoh chuckled knowingly and reshuffled his papers then lit a slender cigarette.  
  
"No, that was not exactly what I was getting at. What I meant was, do you think she is strong enough to be of any viable help to him, or will she just prove to be a pleasurable distraction while he is recuperating?" Grey smoke filled the air around Saitoh's head and the smell of burning tobacco make Hiko wrinkle his nose.  
  
"You know that's a nasty habit, Saitoh." They had dropped the honorifics once they decided to work together.  
  
"Really, and how much worse is it than drinking yourself into amnesiac oblivion, my dear Hiko?"  
  
"Touche. All right, enough pleasantries, where were we?"  
  
"The Kamiya girl."  
  
"Oh right. I think she is just what the kid needs. She is strong, she is forceful, and she has got something that none of the other women in Kyoto have."  
  
Saitoh's thin eyebrow's raised in interest as he took another long drag on his cigarette. "Please, enlighten me. What is this unique attribute she possesses that no one other woman has? I must admit, I am just dying to know."  
  
Hiko smiled cynically. Siatoh really was a sonofabitch, but he was finding himself starting to appreciate his acrid personality. "Well, if you must know, she is in love with him."  
  
"Really? How quaint."  
  
"Saitoh you really are an asshole."  
  
"I know." A twisted sardonic grin crossed his lips. "It is one of my best qualities."  
  
"Of course." Hiko waved his hand in agreement and the two men laughed.  
  
"So, she loves Battousai. I had wondered about that for sometime, but was never truly interested enough to find out. However, this does work out to all of our benefit in this particular case." He stubbed out the butt of his finished cigarette. "If she loves him, then she will be more likely to be completely open with him, thus giving him everything he needs as well as assist in replenishing his ki with some much needed life energy."  
  
"Mmmmm, I think one of those particular needs has already been addressed." The look he shared with Saitoh was lasivious. "And it would seem now that a very strong bond has started to form between them."  
  
"Really, how strong?"  
  
"I am fairly certain my deshi is in love with her as well. He became very defensive of her today while I was there. In fact, he actually had the balls to lose his patience with me and snarl in my face."  
  
"Good heavens. Now that IS a definite change. I did not think the Battousai had a confrontational bone in his body except when he had a sword in his hand. I am surprised."  
  
"No more than I. He rose to the occasion to defend her honor to me as well, which I must say impressed me. I hate to admit it, but I think she is good for him. I think she will make him a stronger fighter."  
  
"Are you serious? A better fighter because of a woman? That is the stupidest thing I ever heard. Have you been dipping into the sake a little early today, Hiko?" Saitoh laughed and picked up his ink quill.  
  
"No. I have not. I am completely serious. She has given him a real reason to fight."  
  
"A reason to fight?" Saitoh was puzzled. "Explain."  
  
"He has a reason to live. It will make him fight harder and better so he can come back to her. He wants a life now, and that is something he has never thought about before."  
  
Saitoh pursed his lips and considered this piece of information intently. "I had not thought of that either. Not in that way. Hmmm..." His eyes dimmed and took on a faraway look, and he seemed to drift away lost inside his own thoughts. In his mind he could see a soft smile, gentle long lashed brown eyes; he could feel the silky softness of her long chestnut hair as it slid though his fingers like satin. He would not even let his mind speak her name. It had been months, or was it years? Saitoh was not even sure how long it had been since he had seen her, but he could still summon her image to his minds eye with little effort. 'My dear wife.' He shook his head and blinked his eyes rapidly trying to force the memory back where it belonged. Back into the place  
  
where he did not see her everyday anymore.  
  
"Saitoh?" Hiko watched the strange look pass over his friends face, and he felt a twinge of worry start. "Are you all right, my friend? You look rather... distant."  
  
"I... I'm alright. Yes, I am fine. It is nothing to worry about." A faintly trembling hand grasp another report and he bent over it in mock concentration, but Hiko was not fooled. He knew something of importance had just occurred. Saitoh was hiding something. Something sad.  
  
"I will be going on my way then. You know where to reach me if you need me."  
  
"Yes." Was the short reply. "Thank-you, Hiko."  
  
"Of course." He turned and walked out of the office with his thoughts still on Saitoh's odd silence. "Sargeant Izukia?" His deep voice startled the mild mannered assistant.   
  
"Ohh, ahhh... yes sir, S-seijurou-san? What c-can I do for y-you?" Izukia had not gotten over the shock of meeting Hiko from the day before.  
  
"Is there someone in Captain Fujita's past that you know about? Someone important that perhaps he has left behind or lost? Someone special like a mother or a sister or something like that? I am just wondering if you know."  
  
"Well...." Izukia thought for a moment. "I did hear a rumor that the Captain was married once a long time ago, but no one was ever really sure. Nobody ever dared ask him about it."  
  
"Married?" Hiko frowned. Saitoh with a wife? Strange.  
  
"Yes. The rumor was that he had left his wife in Enshi when he joined the Bakumatsu, but know one knows whatever happened to her or if she was even real or not. If its true, then she would have been very young when he left her because he joined the Bakumatsu before Himura-san did."  
  
"Yes. More than 12 years ago. Depending on how old she was, she would be in her late 20's or early 30's by now, if she is real, or... if she is alive." Thoughts began to tumble through Hiko's head. "I wonder if that is what made him look so sad?"   
  
"What did you say, Sir?"  
  
"Nothing. Thank-you, Sargent. Carry on." Saitoh having a wife was a very interesting bit of information. It cast a very strange light on the ex-shinsingumi wolf. Hiko felt the beginning of an urge of curiosity that would eventually blossom into a need to know.  
  
**************  
  
The pale yellow light of the Sun rose and faded into afternoon as the day dragged by and turned colder. The passage of time seemed to move on relentlessly despite grief, despite loss, despite the cries of the lost and dying souls pleading for mercy. Time knew not the emotion of mercy. It knew not the meaning of solace or comfort. It simply was, and it moved forward as it always had, and as it always would.   
  
  
  
The group of people stood around the small grave with hands clasp and heads bowed. Many of them were weeping piteously while others were unmoving and stone faced.   
  
This was the fifth child to be found dead, no... not dead, slaughtered. Slaughtered in the woods high on the mountain slopes and tossed carelessly over a cluster of scrub brush.   
  
She was perhaps only five years old, and she had been found torn to pieces. Her little arms and legs were ripped from her body and lying on the ground around her mangled torso, and as with all of the others, her small fragile chest was pulled apart. All of the thin ribs were broken and thrust backwards with a murderous ferocity, and her tiny heart was gone. The shredded and torn flesh inside of her chest cavity proved to all who examined the body, that the heart had not been cut free. It had been ripped out by a hand with tremendous strength and great force.   
  
The real horror of this child; however, was that no one knew her. She was no ones daughter, no ones kin. Not one soul in the village recognized her face, and that meant only one thing to them.  
  
It meant the Hyoukyo were everywhere. Perhaps covering all of Japan, and no ones child was safe. "They are all going to die." One devastated young mother whispered as she dropped a white orchid on the nameless child's grave. "No one can save them now except Kami-sama. We must pray to Kami and beg for help. We must pray." Everyone nodded and murmured in agreed.   
  
"Yes, we must pray. That is our only hope."  
  
**************  
  
Yahiko tentatively knocked on the door to Kenshin's room. It was early afternoon, and he hoped he was not disturbing anything, but he did not want to wait any longer. He was worried about Kenshin too, and he wanted to see him for himself.  
  
"Kenshin...?" He called then waited for a response, but heard nothing. "Hummm..." He knocked again a little louder and firmer. "Kenshin?"  
  
"Nani?" Kenshin's voice sounded tired as it wafted through the rice paper.  
  
Yahiko wondered if he'd woken the swordsman. "Ummm... are you awake?" He asked.  
  
"Yes, who is there?" The voice was closer to the door now.  
  
"Yahiko. I was wondering if you were up to more visitors today? Or if you'd rather, I will come back later when you feel a little better." As much as he wanted to see Kenshin, he did not want to push him into more visitors if he was too tired. If he needed to, Yahiko would wait a little longer to see his mentor.  
  
But the next instant the fusuma was thrown open and Yahiko was yanked informally inside by the front of his gi. Before the young man could gain his feet or his bearings, he found himself caught up in a close embrace that pressed his face tight to Kenshin's chest. The strong arms of the swordsman held him with a sense of fierceness that Yahiko was not sure he understood, but it made him feel good inside. Really good, and he let his arms wrap themselves around Kenshin's waist as he hugged him back.  
  
"I missed you, Kenshin." His voice was so quiet Kenshin was sure he was the only one who heard what Yahiko said. "I really missed you. Why were you gone so long?" The strong young arms tightened a fraction.  
  
"I know I was gone a long time, and I am sorry." A gentle calloused hand stroked the back of the boys head comfortingly. "I could not help it. I am sorry if I worried you." He glanced down at the dark head pressed against his chest. "Were you worried?" Yahiko nodded his head almost imperceptibly. Kenshin did not say anything else he just tightened his arms around the boy and dropped his cheek down to rest it on top of the shaggy black head. Then a moment later he whispered for Yahiko's ears only. "I missed you too, Yahiko. Thank-you for taking care of my Kaoru while I was gone. You are growing into a fine man and I am very proud of you. That I am."  
  
As they pulled apart, violet eyes met light brown in a look of deep understanding and respect. "I am very proud of you, my boy." Kenshin smiled and playfully ruffled Yahiko's hair while the boy protested loudly though he was smiling too. Laughing with good natured companionship, they walked the rest of the way into the room.  
  
"Look, kioshii. We have more company." Kenshin's voice interrupted Kaoru in the middle of brushing her long black hair. "But this is good company, that it is." He clarified with a chuckle when her head whipped around in alarm.  
  
"Yahiko!" She jumped up and hugged the boy. "It's good to see you. Are you alright? Has Hiko-san been treating you well? What happened yesterday after I left? Where did you sleep last night? Are you hungry? Are you tired?" Question after question tumbled out of her mouth in her happiness and relief to see him.  
  
"Geez, Kaoru. Can you slow down for a minute. I can't even remember what the first question was that you asked me. How do you expect me to answer so many questions at once? Did you even breath during all of that?" He looked at Kenshin in incredulity. "How does she do that?" Kenshin just laughed and hugged them both.  
  
A short while later the three were setting around the small table munching on tea crackers and fruit while Yahiko proceeded to tell Kenshin everything that had happened in the weeks during his absence. Most of it was business and life as usual, but Kenshin was so hungry for any news from home he listened intently to every word. He laughed at Yahiko's stories about Tae, Tsubame, and the Akebeko. He was concerned to hear how many people seemed to be getting sick and needing treatment at the clinic, but he was pleased to know Dr. Gensai was doing well. There were more questions about the dojo, the new students, and Yahiko's training with Kaoru.  
  
Kenshin wanted to know if there was any knews from Sano yet, or a letter from Migumi in Aizu, or if they had heard from Aoshi and Misao, even though the Aoiya was only a couple of miles away farther inside the city. There was one bit of news he was not prepared for, but found himself extremely pleased to hear. Seta Seujiro, The Tenken had resurfaced after having gone missing for the last full year.   
  
In a letter from Aoshi, the Kenshin-gumi had been informed Seta-san had been found starving, ill with a terrible cough and fever, and near death just outside of Kyoto on one of the country roads by a member of the Onniwabanshu. He had been brought back to the Aoiya immediately for medical care. Aoshi said it had been touch and go with him for awhile and they had not been certain he would live, but the Tenken was strong, and he was finally recovering well and finding a place of comfort for himself within the walls of the Aoiya.   
  
"It is strange," Seta-san had said one day to Aoshi, "that it should be my enemies who came to my aide and saved me, when all of  
  
my friends had deserted me. How completely ironic this world has turned out to be." It seemed the Tenken was finally starting to find some of his answers to life. Kenshin's face held a warm smile of understanding by the time Yahiko and Kaoru finished telling him about Seta Seujiro.  
  
"I would like to see him." Violet eyes shone with a reflective light empathy. "I would like to see Seujiro-san. Kaoru..." An earnest look captured her eyes. "I want to go tomarrow. Will you help me? I am not sure I can go alone. I am still so tired." Kaoru knew how hard it was for him to ask her for physical help considering how strong of a man he had always been. Her heart went out to him, but she simply took one of his hands between hers and squeezed it.  
  
"Of course, Kenshin. We will both go with you. Yahiko and I. Then we will both be there to help you if you need it, and we will all go to the Aoiya tomorrow and take a look at the Tenken for ourselves. All right." Her blue eyes looked lovingly at him then slid to Yahiko for confirmation.  
  
"That's right, Kenshin. I wanna see this guy myself especially after all the stuff you told us about him. If he's a good guy now, then he's gotta be pretty incredible."  
  
"Yes, Yahiko." Kenshin agreed quietly. "He is incredible. Remember, he was the one who broke my original reverse blade sword during just one Battou-jusu pass."  
  
"I remember."  
  
"Then remember to respect his honor as well as his sword."  
  
"I will." Yahiko bowed his head in conscious regard of his Mentor's words.  
  
To be continued.... Please Review. 


	7. Lies and Secrets

Glossary: okaeri=Welcome, Shounetsujigoku=Hell, hyakuhei=evil, tasukete=help! hyoukyo=possessed/demon, iroona=whore, aikouka=lover, succuba=female demon that preys on men, kitani=unclean, nonstu=bewitch, anata=endearment from a wife to her husband  
  
Standard Disclaimers Apply.  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
Lies and Secrets  
  
The lipstick glowed a deep bloody red as it slid smoothly over the full sensuous lips of the woman sitting before the oval mirror. She carefully scrutinized the color of her lips, and then liberally applied a second coat of the glistening color.   
  
Her eyes were large and round and the blue-green color of wild stormy seas. They were fringed by heavy thick dark brown lashes which she carefully covered with black mascara. This made the eye color an almost smokey blue in contrast to the new black background of the eyelashes. These enormous eyes were her most valuable attribute, and she had learned long ago how to used them to her best advantage. They had seduced Kings, Prime Ministers, Emperors, war hardened soldiers, the highest Nobility, and the lowest gutter slime. She had done whatever she had to in order to get what she wanted, and if it meant sleeping with fat sweaty Counts or slimy cabin boys, she had done it. It had taken her several years of planing and manipulating, but she had finally achieved what she wanted in order to get what she needed, and she had done it without any unwanted complications. Except... Her stormy eyes darkened to a grey-green as her mind wandered. Thinking about him always brought an unwanted pain to her heart. HE was the only mistake she had ever made, and he was also her only regret.  
  
"Himura..." She allowed herself to whisper his name once, then mentally shook herself. There was not time to think about what could have been or might have been. Choices had to be made back then, and she had only one choice to make. So she had walked away and left him behind. Her head dropped and long dark brown hair fell over her slender shapely shoulders and into her lap. That had been so many years ago. A lifetime. They had been different people then, and now each had gone their own way.   
  
She looked back into the pearl framed mirror, and thought about where his life had gone. A wondering ruroni forever haunted by his memories and hunted by his enemies. Everyone wanted to claim the blood of the Battousai, and he had never known a moments peace in the time they were together. There had always been someone to fight, or someone who needed his help. The chaos was never over for him. It went on and on.  
  
The same shaft of pity she always felt in her heart when she thought about him pierced through it again as she wondered what had ever become of him. A deep sigh of regret lifted her chest and pressed her small round breasts against the thin silk of her chemise. If ever she had loved anyone, it would of had to have been Him. So brave, so kind, so strong, so tortured, so lost, so dangerous. But although he had won her heart, he had never been able to satisfy her needs.  
  
"Himura..." She whispered again and met her own reflected gaze and noticing the touch of sadness lurking in their smokey depths, asked herself? "Are you dead, my love?"  
  
"Elsbeth? You aren't dressed, Darling." General Katsura Anaki strolled into the elegantly furnished dressing room and observed his wife's state of undress. She sat on the powder blue velvet cushioned stool in front of her vanity still clad only in her hose, garters, satin bloomers, and camisole. "Our guests will be here any moment and you have not even finished with your make-up?" His stern handsome face looked at her in disapproval. "I know you are aware how important this banquet is to our future." Hooded deep brown eyes looked expectantly at her attractive pale back. "I will expect you to be downstairs on time. Is that quite clear, My Dear?"  
  
Elsbeth Katsura smiled indulgently at her husband. He was several years older that she was,and his dark hair was already showing a touch of grey at the temples. She found that almost as irresistibly attractive as she found him, and stood up to move to his side. "Of course, Anata," she purred and tenderly stroked his temple with soft sensual movements. "I will be there. Unless you want to stay here and be fashionably late with me?" She suggestively fluttered those famous eyes at him and dropped her hand to his broad chest to tease the pearl buttons on his shirt front.  
  
"Elsbeth..." He admonished her in a stern voice, even as a tolerant and loving smile crossed his usually stiff lips. "You really are incorrigible my love. How am I ever going to teach you proper diplomatic etiquette if you will not even try to learn?"   
  
"I suppose you could beat it into me, koishii." A naughty half smile curled her beautiful mouth as a shrug of nonchalance lifted her attractive slim shoulders in a display of feline sensuality. Elsbeth felt a familiar vibration of energy pass through her husband, and a sense of satisfaction poured over her as his powerful arms lifted her up and carried her through an adjoining door to their bedroom. He tossed her onto the bed hard enough to make her bounce, and with a wicked laugh she opened her arms to him. It appeared they were going to be fashionably late after all.  
  
The elegantly attired couple met their guests only a few short minutes past the hour, but their lateness went completely unnoticed. However, there were many comments and compliments on the beauty and vibrant life of the General's lovely wife whose presence appeared to brighten the entire banquet hall with just a smile.   
  
The male population in the room were mesmerized by the ethereal quality of the dark haired European woman who floated through the crowd greeting and welcoming her husbands guests with practiced poise and grace. She was beauty, elegance, and desire woven together in one amazing woman, and she created a scene wherever she went with all of the men panting after her.   
  
The female population followed her with eyes filled with distrust and venom and envy. It was unnatural for such a high government official to have a foreign wife, and a Spaniard at that, and as with all European's, it seemed there were a great number of sordid stories and tales that had followed this particular woman from Spain to Japan. Although, not one shred of proof had ever been found to substantiate any of the accusations that had been brought up against her, she remained a sourse of enigmatic mystery within the female and male political-social population. She also remained one of the most sought after Hostesses in the Japanese High Archy, both for her graciousness as well as her unnatural beauty.  
  
She had married General Katsura Anaki seven years ago, and his status in the social circle of Japan's wealthy and powerful had been elevated dramatically. Three years ago, Lady Elsbeth had been asked by the European Spanish Embassy to become one of their Foreign Attache's in Japan. It seemed to their logical minds that she would be perfect considering who her husband was, and the particular political and social circles she was becoming privy too. It had become a very satisfying relationship for both parties. Lady Elsbeth made bi-weekly reports on Japan's political status, and delivered messages to her husband from his counterparts at the Embassy, and for that, she was given free run of the entire country without any restrictions.  
  
She could come and go as she pleased. The General made certain that her bank account was always well padded so could do what ever she wished. He loved her so dearly he was willing to give her almost anything she wanted, and Elsbeth loved to travel the country. So, he let her roam the landscape once or twice a month with four body guards and some personal staff. She always came back happy and filled with an unearthly amount of energy that she willingly spent off in his bed.   
  
Anaki had never known a woman like Embeth. She had a hunger for sex and the sensual pleasures of the flesh that had left him in awe of her and aching for more from the first time he had held the heat of her in his arms. The thought that she could be sleeping with other men while out trekking across Japan's countryside had never crossed his mind because despite some of her more exotic tastes, Anaki was more than willing to fulfill every desire, need, and craving she had.  
  
Lady ELSbeth Katsura was insatiable in her hunger for pleasures of the flesh, and Katsura Anaki was the only man she had ever been in bed with who was able to truly satisfy her monstrous needs. She did not love him the way a woman was supposed to love her husband, but she could not live without him either. Only he seemed to understand the raging lusts that drove her to do what she did when he took her in his arms and ravished her body, or when she seduced him into taking her with a voilence that would have left a lessor woman unconscious or dead.   
  
A natural sadism and cruelty existed in him left over from his many years as a Samurai and his service as an officer in the Bakumatsa, and once he knew her preferences, he had few qualms giving her what she wanted.   
  
Elsbeth knew no restraints, no inhibitions or taboos, and his powerfully muscled body was her only means of release. And Anaki willingly let her use him as often as she wanted.   
  
"Okaeri," Lady Katsura wove her way through her husbands guests making certain each of them was personally welcomed to their home. "Okaeri, We are so pleased you could come this evening. My, what a beautiful Kimono, Honia-san. Did you buy it in Aizu while you and Minister Honia were visiting there last month?" Elsbeth was smiling and complimenting gowns, kimono's and hairstyles; she queried after health and family members, she offered drinks and piece meats. In short, she plied her wide ranged seduction and manipulation skills on her husbands guests and lulled them into a state of suggestable relaxation.   
  
Thus the evening started, and looked as if it would pass in a blur of wine and warm conversation that would hopefully lead to some much needed network negotiations. Anaki was looking into increasing the spread and size of his political associations throughout the North and Mountain up-country around Aizu and the many surrounding towns and villages. He felt that establishing a stronger governmental presence in the poorer and more cut off areas of the country would help bring about a more unified Japan. It would also provide the opportunity to bring in a better Police force as well, and by doing both of these things, he was certain the stability of the country would be improved with in the next five to seven years. Of course, it would also establish the main trade route farther inland, and this could be most beneficial to him as well.  
  
However, he could not implement his ideas without the cooperation from these eight men sitting around his banquet table.  
  
"My friends, my friends.." His deep voice rose above the din of multiple conversations in an attempt to gain everyone's attention as he stood up from his chair at the head of the long table. "I am sure you are all wondering by now why I have asked you here to my humble home tonight." A round of indulgent laughter followed his self mocking comment and he smiled waiting for the noise to die down before he continued. "First of all, let me say Welcome and be comfortable. If you require more wine, more food, or anything, please just signal my staff, and they will assist you promptly." He bowed respectfully to his guests, and waited while several wine glasses were filled and plates were removed.   
  
As the activity around the table died down, Anaki's face and voice became very serious. "I have asked you here to propose a very risky idea to you." Surprise and apprehension covered many of the faces up and down the table as questions began to circulate. "Listen to me first, please, before you be come alarmed. Please hear me out, and then judge my idea." He waited patiently for a response. There were many disapproving looks, but no one declined to listen to him, so he continued, carefully choosing his words.  
  
"All of you are from the Northlands and up country. Some of you have come as far away as the base of the Taki Mountains to be here tonight, and I thank you." He bowed respectfully again. "Each of you hold a position of importance whether it be a Daimyo, a governing Minister, a commissioned military officer, or a member of the functioning governmental Police. All of you are important men with a great amount of influence and power at his disposal, and that makes each of you potentially very useful to me and my new plan."   
  
Anaki allowed his words to sink in while he watch a plethora of emotions play across the faces of the men setting around the table. He could see each of them weighing the small piece of information in his minds as he decided whether or not to stay and listen to the rest of the General's proposal.   
  
After several long minutes, not one man had left the table, but each turned to his wife and asked her to step into the other room so that important business could be discussed. Anaki watched closely as each of the women left before he motioned for one of his maid servants to attend to them.   
  
Elsbeth stayed. Her cool grey-green eyes surveying the men closely and taking in every detail of their responses and their hidden feelings. She was Anaki's spider-spy. Setting to his left in a large padded oaken chair, she would watch, she would listen, and she would discover each and everyone their weaknesses. It was one of her special gifts, and Anaki had learned over the years to use it to his best advantage.   
  
The men around the table exchanged bewildered glances when it appeared the Lady Katsura was not leaving with the rest of the women. There were few men who allowed their wives to be privy to their private conversations, but this was outrageous.   
  
Once the huge oak doors were closed, Anaki took his usual stance of authority when he assumed his role as acting General of the Governmental Armed Forces.  
  
"I thank you, Gentlemen, for your interest and your patience. I ask your indulgence in allowing the presence of my wife, Elsbeth. She is one of the highest ranking Attache's at the Spanish Embassy, and it is tantamount to my cause she be permitted to observe our meeting. Now if I may continue, please allow me to enlighten you as to my ideas about the North country."  
  
Over the next four hours, Anaki systematically explained his ideas, plans, and goals for the unification of the Northlands to the eight men setting at his table. Many questions were asked concerning the benefits of the people, and how they would be affected by these drastic changes. Other questions concerning whether or not trade and supply lines would be affected, if the demand of food supplies (especially their much needed and difficult to grow rice) would be damaged by the influx of emigrants and government personell.  
  
"I assure you, Minister Honia. The food problem would be one of the first to be addressed. I have already considered that by increasing the population on an already food poor countryside, I would need to have a way to not only supplement the stores, but I would also need to provide an ongoing production line and distribution process to maintain the increased number of people."  
  
"And do you have a plan, General? Or is that still just another one of your ideas?"  
  
"I have already established negotiations with Spanish traders to make an agreement on buying as much rice and wheat as I need every three months."  
  
"Impressive, except one thing." The Minister's voice was derisive and chiding. "How do you intend to pay for so much product as it will take to feed the thousands you are talking about? Who do you intend to tax for the yen to buy your precious wheat and rice? The people you are intending to feed?" The old man snorted with irony. "I do not think that would be a viable option. Tax the poor to feed their bellies. Where will they find the yen to pay your tax when they barely sell enough fish and vegetables now to keep clothes on their backs, and a roof over their heads? I do not see your great plan being so great for the unfortunate you think you are helping."  
  
Struggling to hold his temper, Anaki had to clench his teeth when he answered the Minister. "You misunderstand, Honia-san. I have no intention what so ever of taxing the people to buy my wheat and rice. That was never my plan."  
  
"Really?" Eyebrows white with age rose questioningly. "Then what is?" Every face in the room turned to look at him in intense expectation. His would be comrade in arms were waiting for an answer.  
  
"It is something that you really shouldn't be concerned with. Suffice it to say that I have a source of income that will more than cover the cost of the product, and the existing trade routes can be easily used to implement the distribution across the up country."  
  
"Are you trying to say that you are purchasing the product with illegal monies, General?" The voice of Miko Ishida, the Captain of the Police force in Aiza rose above the other mens to reach Anaki's ears. "Is that why we should not be concerned? Or do you have some extremely generous benefactor who is willing to spend millions of yen on what would basically have to be considered a charity donation?" The young Policeman's voice was harsh and sharp with intelligence.   
  
Anaki's dark eyes met those of the fierce young officer setting near the far end of the table. 'Hmmmm....' He thought with wary instinct. 'I need to watch this one. He is cleverer than most.'  
  
"Officer Miko. I almost feel insulted that you would even suggest I would have illegal dealings in order to procure my finances for this venture. Surely my reputation speaks higher of me than that." He allowed a note of superiority and offense to creep into his voice as he spoke to the younger man.  
  
"Of course, General Katsura. Forgive my insinuation. However, you must admit, your answer does lead one to think in that direction." Officer Miko inclined his head in apology.  
  
"Perhaps, Officer Miko, but my honor should put me above those suspicions. Do you not agree?"  
  
"Yes Sir. I beg your pardon, Sir." Miko apologized again, but inside his heart and his sharp logical mind, he knew the General was lying. He was lying in order to cover up something. Miko vowed to himself that he would keep a watchful eye on this stuffy General, and when he made a mistake, Miko would be there to see it.  
  
Conversations moved on now that the food production and distribution problem had been primarily addressed to the satisfaction of the other men presant. And all the while, Elsbeth sat to the left of her husband in silence. Watching.  
  
She watched the play of emotions among the men, the struggle for show of strength and superiority, and she watched her husband wield his power like he wielded his katana. Smooth, graceful, and with the confidence and ease of long years of practice and training. He was magnificent as he skillfully manipulated the eight powerful men into seeing that his plan was not only meant for the benefit of the people in the Northlands, but for the greater good of all of Japan.  
  
  
  
By the end of the night, six of the eight were in full agreement with him and willing to enter into a binding contract that would make their power and influences Anaki's to use as he wished. The other two, Miko Ishida, the Police Captain from Aiza, and Minister Honia of Tama. Both men were unwilling to extend their assistance to the outlandish plan. Each had his own reasons, but there were two they had in common. Neither of them believed or trusted General Anaki Katsura, and both had a very uncomfortable feeling about the General's wife. The Lady Elsbeth Katsura.  
  
They had watched her watch all of them through out the entire meeting, and there was a strangeness about her that could not be explained or described. Perhaps it was her eyes, which seemed to glitter with white lights and dancing silver flames though there was not a source of light in the room that could cause such a phenomena. Or maybe it was the way she sat so still and unmoving for the full length of the meeting as if she were nothing more than a beautifully dressed life sized porcelain doll.   
  
In their hearts, neither man could discern what affected him so oddly about her, but whatever it was, it felt undeniably... hyakuhei. It felt Evil.  
  
******************   
  
  
  
"Hello, Captain Miko..." The smooth feminine voice purred from the shadows of the stable, startling the tall dark officer. "Or may I call you.... Ishida." She flowed from the darkness like shimmering green water and ocean mist. The deep green over dress of her gown had been removed leaving only the grey satin underskirt, and the snug fitting pale green corset which was pushing her breasts upward to the point of over flowing. Her long dark hair was unbound and it hung well below her small waist in a cascading mass of tangled ringlets, but it was her eyes that captured him. It was those horrible, evil eyes that seemed to reach out from their smokey gray-green fathoms with icy arms and wrapped themselves around his body.   
  
"You are leaving already?" Beautiful blood colored lips formed a pretty pout. "I had hoped you might decide to spend the night along with the others. The General and I have plenty of empty rooms, so it would not be an imposition... if that is what you are worried about."  
  
Ishida could hear all the warning alarms screaming in his head telling him to keep saddling his horse and get the hell out of there and away from this woman, but he just could not seem to make his body respond to what his mind was urging him to do. All he could do was watch as she closed the distance between them, moving with all the grace and sensuality of a cat stalking an injured bird.  
  
"Would you not rather stay... Ishida?" A pale fragile looking hand reached up and cupped the hard line of his jaw then rose to stroke his forehead and cheek. "Would you not rather stay here... with me tonight?" Her eyes glittered like a thousand diamonds in the growing darkness of the stable, and their pupils seemed to be getting larger and larger until the grey-green of the irises was nearly obscured.  
  
The feel of her soft warm body pressed against his chest, and her other hand rose to slide behind his neck pulling him down to her. "Stay with me, Ishida." Her voice had taken on a rich husky quality, and he shivered violently as gooseflesh spread lightening fast across his body. "Stay..." Her mouth was only a hairs breadth away from his, and he could feel the moist heat of her breath on his chin. Hands that no longer seemed to belong to him rose from his sides and pulled her roughly against him crushing her with their fierce strength.  
  
"Yyeesss...." It was a moan of pure hunger as the hand behind his neck tightened and urged him toward her waiting lips. "Ishida... kiss me... " Her eyes closed and she waited for the heated ravishment she knew would come. But...  
  
Suddenly she was thrown away from him with concentrated and violent force. As she stumbled and fell to her knees in the dirt, she heard a strained but furious voice lash out at her.  
  
"Get off of me, Bitch!" Her huge round eyes were filled with shocked incredulity. No man had ever been able to resist her once she set out on a seduction hunt, but Miko Ishida was standing before her doing far more than resist. Although his breathing was ragged with the effort he was exerting to control himself, he had broken himself free of her and her spell completely. His eyes were raging, his handsome face contorted into a fearsome snarl of primitive fury, and Elsbeth realized that it was completely possible for him to kill her at that moment, so she changed tactics.  
  
"Oh no, please, please don't hurt me...." She filled her eyes with tears and produced a cascade of pitiful sobs. "I did not mean to offend or upset you. I- I just thought when I saw you watching me earlier that you wanted... that you were implying... oh dear, I've made a mess of things haven't I." Carefully covering her face so she could still see through her fingers, she continued to watch Miko's responses and tried to gauge his next move. She knew he was a man of profound honor, and she was fairly certain he would respond to her woman's tears and frailties like the gentleman he was. She was wrong.  
  
"Don't try to confuse me with your false tears, woman." He advanced on her threateningly and jerked her up off the ground by her elbow. "I don't know what kind of game you think you are playing with me, but I am not playing." His enraged gaze burned into her shocked face. "I am not someone you can seduce so you can blackmail me later into assisting the General. UNDERSTAND?!" A snarling wolf could not have filled her with more fear than Miko Ishida did at that moment, and she found herself nodding in panicked silence even as he walked her towards the door of the stable. "Good, I am glad you do. Now, get the fuck away from me!"   
  
He shoved her out into the night watching as she stumbled and fell again. Her face was pale as the full moon when she looked back at him, and Ishida felt a deep tremor of apprehension flicker through his heart. Once more his eyes met hers. "If you ever come near me again, Lady Elsbeth, I swear to God I will kill you."   
  
When he rode his horse out of the stable, she was still kneeling on the ground where she had fallen. He reined his horse to a halt several yards away and considered her small slim form for a moment, but as his eyes watched her, he saw something happen that would change his life forever.  
  
Her head was bent down low to the ground, and she leaned heavily on her hands as if she were suffering from a tremendous exhaustion. Then, in one fluid movement, she whipped her head upward sending her mass of hair sailing over her head in a wild curtain of dark living silk. Before  
  
Ishida realized it, her eyes were locked with his, but what he looked into were not eyes. What had once been oddly shimering silver pools, were now glowing orbs of red hot flame burning in her face.   
  
He was frozen, he was caught, trapped by a force he could not identify. It felt as if a massive hand of tremendous power gripped him and held him to the place he and his horse stood. "Oh Kami... help..."  
  
Elsbeth climbed to her feet and stood watching his fear mount with a look of amusement on her face. "You think to threaten me, Ishida?" Her voice was strange. It sounded almost hollow; like an echo upon itself. "I think you do not understand the dangerous forces you tamper with." She advanced three steps towards him and raised her left hand. "Listen to me you pitiful man," and as she spoke, the nails on the hand began to grow and lengthen until their curved shape and razor tips resembled an eagles talons. "Beware the creatures of the night." She hissed. Beware those who walk unseen over the land and devour the souls of the living, for from this night forward, they search for you." A horrible laugh rose from her slim fragile throat and the night was filled with the frozen promises of death and doom. "They will search and come for you, Miko Ishida. They will hunt you like a wolf hunts a wounded deer. The very smell of the blood that runs through your veins will lead them to you, and you will die... a feast for the undying." She approached him and the pale light of the moon finally illuminated her features, and Ishida saw the thing that spoke the curse upon his head.  
  
And he screamed.   
  
Miko Ishida was found six days later wandering aimlessly through the forests on his horse. He was delirious and suffering from exposure when he was rushed to the hospital in Toma for immediate attention. Word was sent to Aiza to the Police force there that their young Captain had been found, but he was in grave condition. His faithful Sargent, and younger brother, Thian came as quickly as he could after hearing the news. They had almost given the Captain up for dead when he did not return from Enshi after so many days gone missing, and Thian was being pressed to take his place though he did not have the heart for it. Now it seemed the Captain had been found alive, and Thian had many questions to ask him. Many, many questions.  
  
Ishida felt as though he were trying to climb out of a deep, deep cavern filled with thick heavy darkness that he could almost touch with his hands. He knew he was far away from where he was supposed to be, and it was very important that he get back, but he could not remember why. A memory lay dormant in his frozen mind. A terrible memory. A memory his mind screamed in terror over being forced to locate and acknowledge. It was black and evil. It promised death; his death. It was better for him to stay away from it, but he knew somehow he had to bring it back. There was a very important reason he had to remember. What was it? What was the reason he had to remember? What... Thian! He had to tell Thian! Thian had to know about.... about... OH GOD!! THIAN!!!!  
  
"Ishida??" Thian placed his hand over his brothers heart and felt the comforting sensation of its beating rhythm. "Ishida, wake up my brother. I need to know where you've been. I need to know what happened to you." Thian sat down in a chair next to the bed watching Ishida with worried brown eyes. The doctors had informed him of his brothers condition, which was serious but treatable, but they had also told him something very strange and disturbing. There was a mark on the back of Ishida's neck that had them puzzled. It appeared to be a burn of some sort, but they would not be able to make out what it was of until it healed and the scab fell off. However, they were all in agreement that it appeared to have been made with some sort of instrument or brand. Ishida had been branded, or marked.   
  
"Marked for what?" Thian had asked himself a hundred times since hearing the report. "And by whom?" Looking at his brothers thin face, he offered a prayer to Kami asking that Ishida wake up soon. "Come back, brother."  
  
It was close to three o'clock in the morning and Thian had long since fallen asleep in the chair next to his brother. The window was open and a soft cool breeze was blowing through gently fluttering the gauzy white curtains. No sounds existed in the room. All was quiet and at peace. No terrors stalked the night while Thian was near.   
  
As long as Thian stayed close, Ishida was safe. Just as while in the forests, as long as Ishida remained awake, he was safe. After four days without sleep, he had become delusional and began hallucinating. That was when he became lost in the forests, and that was when he had locked himself away in his mind.  
  
He had seen what hunted him while in his altered state of mind. The half rotted corpses, their mouths filled with bloody daggers for teeth relentlessly following him. Everywhere he looked they were there, pulling themselves through the trees, clumsily climbing over the short brush and rocks, wading across streams. Nothing stopped them. They just kept coming, and all the while he could hear them saying over and over, "Ishida... Hungry... Ishida.... Hungry... Ishida... Hungry... Ishida... " until they had nearly driven him insane with constant repetition of the two words. They would start to bounce around in his brain like bullets until he could hear nothing else, then he would scream and scream and scream.   
  
Instinctively he knew as long as he stayed awake they could not touch him. As long as he remained conscious he was beyond the reach of their rotting hands and gnashing teeth, and so he had fought them with the only weapon he had against them. His will to live.  
  
Now he was away from them, and Thian was here. "I can feel you, Thian." His heart wept as the presence of his brothers ki soothed his tortured soul. "Please, do not leave me alone... please, Thian."  
  
The Sun rose and cast a clear gold light into the sick room illuminating the two figures. One was slumped over uncomfortably in a chair, the other lay supine in the bed covered with a blanket. A faintly warm breeze wafted through the window and lifted the curtains as it entered the room. A feeling of peace came with it, and it seemed to say "Wake up," to both of the men in the room. "It is time." Then it left and the curtains settled back to their original place as if they had never moved at all.  
  
"Thian."  
  
Thian was having a dream. It was the dream he always had about Ishida and himself when they were little boys playing in the river that ran through their village. It was always a pleasant dream because they were always happy, but this time the dream was different.   
  
He was watching Ishida splashing in the murky green water and throwing stones as he always did, but then suddenly he was being dragged down under by an unseen attacker. Thian heard his high pitched screams of terror and ran as fast as he could through the knee deep water to help his brother. "Thian!" Ishida's voice screamed again and again inside his head as he watched his brother being pulled down stream by something black in the water. "Tasukete! Help me!" The blackness rose up out of the water and covered Ishida like a shiny blanket, and he disappeared under the murky green surface one more time. Thian kept running as feelings of desperation and terror seized him pushing him forward with increased strength and speed, but his brother was being dragged farther and farther away from him despite his efforts.   
  
Then all at once, Ishida's head and upper torso shot out of the water only a few yards away from Thian. Something black and shiny as the tar pits with dozens of tentacles was wrapping itself around his body. His arms and legs were being bound within coils upon coils of this black water demon that held him prisoner.   
  
Thian sprang toward his terrified brother as one of the tentacles began to wrap around his forehead, but he was not fast enough. Ishida was being pulled under the water again probably for the last time. "Tasukete! Tasukete!" he screamed, his dark eyes bulging in terror, and then he was gone. "ISHIDA!! "Thian cried out and jerked himself awake, sweat running down his temples and forehead.  
  
"Kuso!" he swore under his breath as trembling hands covered his face and wiped the sweat away. "What the hell is going on?"   
  
"Thian." The voice was so soft and low Thian was not sure he had even heard it. His hands lowered, and he looked around the room in leery suspicion, but found nothing. He decided it was nothing more than echoes left from his nightmare and stood up moving to the open window.  
  
"Thian." He whirled around, eyes wide in fear and alarm. It had been much louder this time, and he was sure he had heard it. Thian's heart thundered in his chest as his eyes darted around the room again, looking. "What am I looking for?" he breathed in a low cautious whisper. "Ghosts, demons, phantoms? What's the matter with me?" Giving himself a hard mental shake, he walked back to the bed. "I have to go, Ishida." His voice was filled with resignation as he gazed at his brothers still unconscious face. "But I will be back very soon. Be well, and may the Angels watch over you." Leaning down, he tenderly kissed Ishida's forehead and then turned to leave.  
  
"Nooooo...." The word was but the faintest rubbing of tongue against teeth, but it was clear and distinct. Thian was staring down into his brothers face in an instant, his eyes wide and searching.  
  
"Ishida...?" He watched closely for signs of any response. "Can you hear me? Did you call my name? Did you just keep me from leaving? Ishida?"  
  
Eyes too long shut began to roll beneath the thin frail flesh of pail eyelids as they struggled to open. A mind long without rational thought struggled to form words with body and meaning, and a mouth that had long since ceased to speak parted and simple sound was born.  
  
"Thian."  
  
Miko Thian, Sargent of the Azia Police force, and younger twin brother to Miko Ishida burst into tears as he listened to his brother speak his name for the first time in nearly four days. He buried his head in the bedding next to Ishida's shoulder and cried. He cried in joy, he cried in sorrow, and he cried in fear. Now he would find out if his brother could tell him what had happened to him in the mountains for the week he had been lost, or he would find out if his brother had gone insane.  
  
A gentle hand touched Thian's head, and when he looked up, he saw Ishida's eyes were open and looking back at him. They were clear and rational, but a haunted look of fear Thian had never seen before lurked deep in their dark brown depths. He had been right after all. Something terrible HAD happened to Ishida. He had not just gotten lost and exposed to the elements as everyone was trying to believe. Something had happened to him. Something that had changed him. He was no longer the fierce determined police officer who had lead their unit with such dignity and honor for the last five years. He seemed somehow... diminished.   
  
"Ishida! You are awake, my brother." Thian's smile was pure joy as he gazed into his brothers face. "I have been so worried, and so afraid. I was afraid you were never going to wake up."  
  
"Forgive me, Thian." The words were slow and raspy, but they were coming. "Have I been gone a long time?" Anxious eyes met and searched worried ones. "Am I away from Enshi?"  
  
Thian was startled by the last question. It was asked with such a feeling of panic that he could sense the pure terror within Ishida's ki. "You are in Toma. You are in the Hospital there. When you were found, you were very sick from exposure and near death. You were brought here to be taken care of." He watched as Ishida visibly relaxed and felt his panic subside. "You wentmissing for almost one full week, and you have been here unconscious for four days. I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to wake up."  
  
Ishida shivered as the reason for his struggle to wake up came back to him. Fear and the burden of too much knowledge sent a rush of gooseflesh across his body as every hair stood on end screaming out in the bodies age old primitive alarm system. "No! Do not remember! We cannot go there! Please do not make us go there!" His mind, heart, and soul were screaming and sobbing in his head like terrified children, but his rational mind knew it could not be helped. It had to be done. He could not bare this burden alone. Someone else had to know. If anything happened to him, someone else had to be in possession of the truth so she could be stopped. She had to be stopped. Somehow, she had to be stopped.  
  
"Listen to me, Thian. Please, you must listen to me and believe, my brother. The world is becoming a dark and dangerous place where evil runs free across the land pillaging and devouring the souls of the living." Ishida's eyes were wide with the intensity of his conviction. "You have to hear what I need to tell you before it is too late"  
  
"Too late?" Thian pulled back from his brother's sudden show of mania. "What are you talking about? Too late for what? Ishida, you are scaring me."  
  
"Scaring you? You do not know what it means to be scared, Thian. You do not know what it means to be in mortal fear for your life from those that are not dead yet do not live. That is Fear, my brother. That is true Fear."   
  
"What the hell are you talking about? Zombies? Ghosts? You are starting to sound crazy, do you know that. You are starting to sound like you really went insane out there." Thian grabbed the chair and pulled it up next to the bed and grabbed his brothers hand. "Now tell me what the fuck is going on, and tell me the truth. The real truth, Ishida. Not this cockamamie bullshit. Tell me what the hell is going on, and why you're so damned afraid. I've never seen you afraid a day in your life." His voice rose in anxiety revealing his own level of distress. "Tell me what you meant by it almost being too late to tell me. Too late for what? What's it almost too late for, Ishida? What??!"  
  
"Me." Was the whispered terror filled reply that sent Thian's mind reeling into confusion, and desperation. Ishida's eyes were once again clear and rational, and he was deathly calm. There was no mistaking the look of sanity and truth on his face, and his spirit-ki was emanating a feeling of pure truth. Thian could do nothing else but believe him.  
  
"Dear God, Ishida. What's happening out there? What did you see?"  
  
"Shounetsujigoku." Despair filled brown eyes met and held the gaze of anxious and confused eyes of the exact same shape and color. "I saw Hell, Thian, and now I am damned for I have looked into the eyes of the Devil's whore, and she has spat out a curse of such evil upon my head that I may not live to see the light of many more days."  
  
"I cannot accept this. I cannot. The Hyoukyo are only legend. There has never been any proof found that their cult existed. There is another explanation, there must be."  
  
"There is not another explanation. The Hyoukyo do exist, and they are building a community somewhere within the Taki Mountains. The living dead roam the forests and will devour any unfortunate traveler who dares stop and camp. They have only to fall asleep to become the prey of the Zombie Horde. I know." His eyes took on a faraway look as he stared at nothing. "I have seen them."  
  
"Ishida... how...?" Thian was agast at his brothers admission.  
  
"They hunt me now. They search for me. They can smell my blood as if it were the scent of steaming raw meat, and they are ravenous for it." A shudder passed violently through his body. "She did that to me. She sent them after me. She made it so they smell only my blood, and they will not stop until they have devoured every last morsal of my body. Then, when they are finished, and every drop of blood has been cleaned away, they will take my screaming soul to her and she will consume its energy and I will become part of her powers. It is only a matter of time."  
  
"Who did this? Who is 'she', Ishida? Who is this woman you speak of who has control over the Horde... and over you? Who is she?"  
  
Hoarse laughter scratched it's way out of Ishida's dry throat, and a single tear traced its way down his cheek. "No one will ever believe me." he replied in a broken whisper. "Not even you."  
  
"Yes I will. I will believe you. Tell me." Thian was urgent.  
  
"She is a witch, Thian. A succuba perhaps, but one thing is certain. She is the Devil's Iroona, his Aikouka."  
  
"Lover?? The Devil's lover??" Shock and horror colored Thian's voice as he processed the information his brother was telling him. A witch living somewhere in the reasonably close vicinity was casting evil spells, conjuring and controlling a large zombie horde, and she was also the Devil's lover. Thian buried his face in his hands trying to get control of his whirling confused mind.  
  
"What is her name, Ishida? You know her name, don't you."  
  
"You will never believe me, Thian. No one would ever believe it. It's just too impossible."  
  
"Dammit! Just tell me her fucking name already, and stop playing around with me, all right. Just tell me and I will decide if I believe you or not. Deal?" He met his brothers eyes in frustrated  
  
irritation. It had been a long morning.  
  
"All right, little brother. Deal. But remember, you are the one who asked, not me. OK?"  
  
"OK. Just get it over with will you. I am getting the worst headache I think I have had in my whole life." A deep breath filled his chest then came out in a 'whoosh' as he attempted to settle his nerves. "Come on. Let's hear it."  
  
"The Lady Elsbeth Katsura." came the nearly inaudible reply, and Thian was stunned. He could feel his hands and feet going numb as a sense of extreme shock over came him. "Lady Katsura...?" he could hardly say the name himself it was so preposterous a notion to try and digest. All he could do was set in his chair and blink his eyes trying to maintain focus as his vision kept trying to blur. He had met General Katsura and his Lady Wife a few years earlier, and his mind was emphatically denying the possibility of what his brother was insinuating.  
  
"It cannot be." He seemed to be speaking to the floor. "It simply cannot be. She is such a fragile and beautiful woman. I can't... How can this be true? Ishida?" His eyes bore into his brothers resigned and blank face. "How?"  
  
"She is full-blooded Spanish directly from Spain. There were rumors years ago that she had fled Spain to avoid an Inquisition after being accused of being a Witch, but nothing was ever proven so the matter was ignored, and no investigation was ever done here in Japan. Then after she married the General, everything seemed to be totally forgotten as she became a favorite in the higher social circles." Ishida closed his eyes recalling a report he had seen on the Lady Katsura years ago when he was only a street officer. "I remember when she was appointed Attache' at the Spanish Embassy. There was such a raucous in the department because the Captain had been secretly watching her activities for several months, and had a prepared statement for the Chief Secretary concerning something he had discovered. But the report disappeared, and the Captain was dead before the year was out."  
  
"Dead?"  
  
"Yes. I think now they must have killed him because he found something out about her. Something she could not afford to have anyone know. He was found at the foot of some very steep stairs in his home with his neck broken. It was always presumed he had fallen, but now I am not so sure. He'd walked those stairs a thousand times over the years, even in the dead of night without one mishap. Why should he suddenly fall, in the middle of the day?" Ishida's eyes turned to the open window where he stopped to gaze at the trees in the courtyard outside his room.  
  
"You think he was pushed now, don't you?"  
  
"Yes, I do."  
  
"You know there's no proof to what you're saying."  
  
"I know. There never is any proof. That is the beauty of it, Thian. No proof, no clues, no links. Just a nice clean accident and all the loose ends are neatly tied up. Think about it. With the file gone, and the Captain dead there was no possible way any of the information he had uncovered would ever reach the Chief Secretary. Or anyone else for that matter because it had been the Captain's own private investigation."  
  
Thian reared back as a state of stunned understanding sliced through his brain. "Kuso," He swore as everything actually started to make sense. The whole, entire, bizarre load of it. He groaned and covered his face with his hands. "Do you know what something like this could do? I mean, really do?"  
  
"It could destroy the new alliance and trade agreement with Spain... Fucking bastard!!!" Ishida sat up in bed and slammed his fist into his other hand with murderous force. "That's how he's going to do it. That's his 'unlimited supply'. That filthy bastard. He has his own trade agreement with the Spanish and I will bet they aren't your regular merchants either." He snarled and threw his water pitcher across the room. "Damn you, Katsura. Damn you to Hell, you and that fucking succuba your married to. I hope you scream while you burn!"  
  
"What are you yelling about? Ishida??" Thian tried unsuccessfully to get his brother to lay back down on the bed. "Calm down before you send yourself into seizures or something, dammit. What 'trade agreement' are you talking about? Why would General Katsura have his own trade agreement with the Spanish? Now you're really not making sense."  
  
"The meeting... that damned fucking meeting I went to at his house. It was all about how he wants to improve the Northlands and up countries by increasing the amount of political and governmental presence we have here. He wants to unify the towns and villages and make the North into something like its own little country, but the problem we were all concerned about was the increase food demand and how it would be procured and paid for." He was breathing heavily as if he had run hard and fast. "He just assured us that he had access to monies to buy the needed wheat and rice, and he was negotiating a contract with Spanish traders to obtain the product in as large a quantities as he required within set time periods not to exceed two months."  
  
"All right, it sounds plausible. I still don't understand your point."  
  
"He said he would not tax the people for the yen to buy the product, but he would not disclose his source of income for the purchases either. There can be only one way he can come up with that much product to sustain a growing population of that size in that short of a period of time. And there is only one way he can pay for it."  
  
Thian was struggling to keep up. "OK, OK. But I'm still not following you."  
  
"Baka." Ishida smacked his brother in the back of the head. "Idiot, if you had to come up with a lot of money fast, how would you do it? Use your brain for once, Thian. Quit expecting the answer to jump out and bite you in the balls. Work it out."  
  
"Kuso, Opium trading. He's smuggling opium, and planning to trade it for the wheat and rice. Isn't he?" Huge brown eyes filled with stunned disbelief met the hard glare of Ishida's gaze.  
  
"Yes. But where is he going to get the wheat and rice? Think about it."  
  
"The trade agreement..."  
  
"That's right. He's going to steal it before it ever gets here."  
  
"But won't he destroy the trade agreement by doing that? Why would he do that? That would hurt him as well as Japan?"  
  
"I am thinking only for a little while. Who is his Wife, Thian? But, more importantly, WHAT is she?"  
  
"The Spanish Attache'to Japan."  
  
"That's right. Now wouldn't it be interesting if General Katsura and his beautiful wife appeared just in time to save the tragically failing trade agreement, AND the threat of the dissolution of the peace alliance? Are you with me yet?"  
  
"Yes, I think I am with you. Holy shit!" Now everything was really starting to make sense, and Thian felt sick to his stomach. "Wait a minute, after they do all of this and they save everything and everybody, what do they get out of it? What benefit do they get?" He cast a confused glance at Ishida.  
  
"The Chief Secretary is an old man. There are rumors he has developed a condition of the heart, and is liable to die anytime. There has to be someone there who is qualified to take his place, doesn't there? And who better than the Savior of the Spanish Alliance and Trade Agreement?"  
  
"Oh My God, he's after the whole country, and if what you say about Lady Katsura is true, then... Kami-sama save us all. Not one soul of us would be safe." Thian's voice broke on a whisper and he buried his face in his hands and bent over in despair.  
  
"Yes, Thian. Not a single soul of the living would be safe, and I do not know a man alive who is strong enough to face her... And kill her." He grasp a handful of his brothers hair and gripped it hard trying to help him cope with the unthinkable. "If she were not at his side, the General would not have the power to accomplish such a humangous goal. She is the force that drives him. Her power and kitani magic have bewitched him, and he is under her control. The things he does now, he does according to her will, not his own. He is her slave, her willing Deacon. He is nonstsu. She has bewitched him. If she does not die, we are all dead men."  
  
  
  
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	8. Old Friends and Kindred Hearts

Things are getting a little heavier for Kenshin and Kaoru, and it is starting to look like he is going to need more than just her help if he is going to get through all of this.  
  
This chapter heralds the beginning of my free libertarian uses of the Ruroni characters as I saw fit to make my fiction what I wanted it to be. There are a lot of surprises coming up, and I hope sincerely that no one gets too upset or blown away. A lot of thought and emotion went into these unique relationships, and the people the characters have eventually evolved into being have grown to mean a great deal to me. In short, they are all very close to my heart. I hope they will become close to yours as well.  
  
I truly wish and desire that everyone will enjoy what I have done with these extraordinary characters... just remember, keep an open mind, and hang on for what I hope will be a great ride into a whole new world of strange and bizarre things.  
  
Sincerely, Tsuki-san  
  
****Glossary Update****11-20-03***I have recently discovered that a couple of my word translations were not exactly right. So, Instead of going all the way back to chapter five and having to re-edit chapters 5-7 completely (cause they aren't on the puter anymore) I am changing the words from this chapter forward. They are set apart by Captical text in each glossary so you know which ones they are. Tsuki  
  
Glossary: Sho-ji=outside door, Engowa=veranda, Shin-yuu=friend, AMAN=lover, Koishii=dear or darling, Busu=ugly woman, Sensei=teacher, Sotsu=son, OTOU=father   
  
Chapter Eight  
  
  
  
Old friends and Kindred Hearts  
  
It was not really a long walk to the Aoiya, but the distance took its toll on Kenshin's energy stores and he was forced to take several short rest periods before they reached the front shoji. All of the repairs from the fight with the Juppon Gatana were finally finished, and there was hardly any way to tell it had ever been demolished.  
  
"Wow, it looks really good again." Yahiko exclaimed as he examined the new shoji and outer walls. "They really did a good job. You can't even tell it's not the old original wall and stuff."  
  
Kenshin and Kaoru smiled indulgently at the younger mans astonished observations and looks of surprise. "That's how its supposed to look, Yahiko." Kaoru told him laughingly. "You wouldn't want a sloppy repair that made everything look bad would you?" Kenshin laughed softly  
  
as he laid a tired arm across her shoulders and pulled her next to his side.   
  
He had ended up needing to lean more heavily on her than he thought he would have to, but she had not said a word. She had just put a steadying arm around his waist, shoved her shoulder into his armpit, and helped him carry his weight with her strength while making it look like nothing more than two people strolling down the street with their arms around each other. The carefully orchestrated support hold had given him the steadying crutch he needed to continue walking, and it had protected his honor and dignity as a man as well. He knew Kaoru had done it like that on purpose to spare him any embarrassment because of his weakened condition, and he loved her for that. She understood a great deal about a man's dignity, and he was forever grateful.  
  
Yahiko gave Kaoru a sour look and pulled the string next to the doors ringing the cluster of little bells that announced to the occupants of the Aoiya that they had guests, and then stepped back to wait patiently with his older companions. After only a few short moments, they heard the soft shuffle of sandals moving along the inside engowa. The shoji opened and revealed the bright surprised face of Okon-dono.  
  
"Kaoru-dono! Yahiko! Himura-san! Oh my goodness, how wonderful to see you." Okon jumped up and down clapping her hands in delight. "Please come in. Oh please come in."  
  
As they entered the courtyard of the Aoiya, Okon proceeded to hug them all and continue in her happy welcome. It had always been a pleasure to come here for the Kenshin-gumi. This was another home for them.  
  
"Thank-you, Okon-dono." Kenshin smiled warmly at the woman, and bowed respectfully. "It is also very good to see you. I hope we are not intruding by not sending word before we arrived."   
  
"No, no, of course not. You know you are always welcome here. For heavens sake, your part of our family." She beamed at him in honest acceptance. "We are always glad to see you whenever you and yours can come."  
  
Kenshin and Kaoru exchanged relieved glance and shared a sigh of relief. "We were very much hoping we would not be causing trouble to you. It is just..." Kenshin's voice trailed as he tried to think of the best way to say what he wanted to.  
  
"What is it, Himura-san? Do you wish to see Aoshi-san? He is just over here in one of the day rooms. Come with me, and I will take you there."  
  
Before Kenshin could answer, Okon was shuffling away with the intent of leading them to Aoshi. He shared an amused look with his companions, and the three obediently followed her along the engowa until she stopped in front of a closed door. She knocked and waited for an answer. A  
  
muffled voice indicated she could enter, and she slipped though the fusuma closing it behind her. Kenshin listened to the sounds of Okon and Aoshi talking and tried to imagine how his former enemy turned ally would receive him. Their relationship had remained cool and distant despite  
  
Aoshi's spiritual reformation and the firm alliance formed between the Onniwabanshu and the Kenshin-gumi. He knew nothing could ever be truly judged among friends, even reluctant ones so he stood patiently with his hands folded in front of his abdomen and waited.  
  
The fusuma slid open revealing the emotionless face of Shinomori Aoshi. He was dressed in a long yukata that was usually worn for meditation in the Temple, and it seemed to Kenshin they had interrupted him in the middle of something.  
  
"Forgive me, Aoshi." Kenshin bowed deeply in a formal apology. "Okon-dono did not tell me you were meditating. Please, return to your solitude, and I will not disturb you again." He offered another deep bow of respect then turned to leave.  
  
"I was not meditating, Himura, and you have not disturbed me."  
  
Kenshin turned back to face Aoshi and stood patiently waiting for the other man to continue.  
  
"I am pleasantly surprised to see you here, as well as Kamiya-dono and her young deshi. Please, come in and join me for some tea." He stood to one side and generously waved them inside.  
  
The three friends shared surprised, if not shocked, looks before they bowed in acceptance of Aoshi's out of character invitation and entered the room. Okon provided each of them with a cushion to kneel on then left to bring more tea and teacups.  
  
"Thank-you, Aoshi. I realize we are here without sending any prior word of our coming. I do sincerely hope we are not causing an imposition." Once again Kenshin inclined his head to the serious faced ninja. "I did not intend to cause such a raucous. Truly I did not."  
  
"Be at ease, Himura. You have caused no problems or impositions to us." Aoshi offered a formal bow to Kenshin, which left the swordsman in even deeper shock. "As I said, I am pleased to see you and your company, and I know Misao will be ecstatic. So rest your mind and your heart and  
  
know you are welcome here." Aoshi folded his hands serenely in his lap. It was difficult for all three of the others to get used to him like this. "But I must admit a great curiosity as to what has brought you here unannounced, and in such an obvious state of such... debilitation."   
  
Kenshin let Aoshi's last statement sink into his mind and his heart and felt a finger of unsettling vulnerability cover him. "Is it really that obvious?"   
  
"Not to those who do not know you, but I could feel your impairment long before Okon knocked on the fusuma." His voice was not condescending, nor did it pity. It was laced equally with concern and curiosity. "You are not well enough to have walked the distance you came. It was a foolish choice, shin-yuu." Jade green eyes rose to meet surprised amethyst. "As your friend, I am bound to caution you to be more careful with your life."  
  
Kenshin could only nod as he found himself unable to speak for the lump that rose in his throat. Shinomori Aoshi was concerned for his health, for his life. He had called Kenshin shin-yuu, his friend, and that knowledge was having a profound affect on him both emotionally and  
  
spiritually. His frail spirit-ki cried inside his soul as he felt the accepting touch of Aoshi's much stronger and healthier one. It was like being touched by the icy waters of a high flowing mountain stream only it held an enormous amount of life power and spiritual energy. Kenshin began to shiver in response.  
  
"To heal such a damaged ki will take much energy and much time, Himura. It would be to your benefit if you were too humble your dignity and accept assistance from those in a position to help you."  
  
Kenshin gazed into Aoshi's eyes in puzzlement, unsure what the serious minded ninja was referring to, and then something cold slid up the contours of his spine like the intimate touch of a lovers hand trailing ice along his shivering flesh.. The sensation was both burning hot and icy cold as it slithered over his spine upwards to the back of his neck and touched the base of his skull.  
  
"Take what is offered, shin-yuu. For it is freely given with the clear purity of a new and restored spirit. Open your frightened heart and let this part of my spirit-ki join with yours. Let its energy  
  
help in renewing and healing the terrible damage yours has suffered." Aoshi's voice was low and had a soothing affect on Kenshin causing him to relax and become pliant and receptive to energy wave of Aoshi's ki. His level of concentration deepened and he held Kenshin's gaze firmly within  
  
His own and spoke clearly. "Take it, my friend. It is my gift to you for saving my soul from a life consumed with hatred and misery. Take it and become stronger within your own self. Take it and become my brother among the waters of life, Come with me, shin-yuu. Come into the waters and feel the power of the white light."  
  
All at once Kenshin was thrown backwards by a some unseen force of tremendous power, but it also held him in a cradling embrace so that only his head and shoulders fell. His eyes were staring, wide open orbs of brilliant violet and gold that saw nothing as his body hung limply in the  
  
air. A soft white light began to glow around him and then it rose to completely illuminate him.   
  
Aoshi's spiritual energy was entering Kenshin's body and the two men were beginning to fuse together.   
  
Kenshin's mouth opened and formed a perfect O as the sensation of becoming two surged through his mind and soul. The feeling of Aoshi sitting inside his body with him was incredible and profoundly humbling. He could feel the powerful fury of great rivers and oceans rushing through his mind and spirit as the entity that was Aoshi shaped and shifted itself to fit with Kenshin's damaged ki.   
  
Kenshin was amazed and mesmerized as he gazed with his new eyes at the endless beauties and possibilities within the infinity that was the joined mind of the Aoshi-Kenshin spirit fusion. Their thoughts and feelings were one and thus became known to each other in that instant of time, and Kenshin knew Aoshi in a way no one else ever could. He saw Aoshi's thoughts, Aoshi's regrets, Aoshi's dreams, Aoshi's feelings, and Aoshi's loves.... Then in the next split moment of time, the two joined spirits, yet separate entities that were Kenshin and Aoshi, surged together and became One. One heart, One spirit, One soul, and then a tremendous explosion of blinding white light burst inside Kenshin's mind and he collapsed onto the floor without a single sound. Across from him, Aoshi slumped over in severe exhaustion, but remained conscious.   
  
Kaoru was not quite sure what had just happened between the two men, but the waves of spirit-ki energy that had filled the room had thrown her and Yahiko back against the walls. She struggled to sit up, hands holding her head where it had banged into one of the wooden braces. That was when she saw Kenshin, and she forgot all about her aching head.  
  
Kaoru slid swiftly across the smooth wood of the floor until she reached Kenshin's side. She gently brushed some of his hair out of his face and tuned his head so she could look at him.  
  
"Kenshin...?" She cupped his face in both of her hands and leaned down closer to him. "Kenshin, are you alright? Koishii, can you hear me?"   
  
Aoshi pushed himself back up and took careful notice of the voice of concern and actions of Kaoru as she knelt over Kenshin's still form. 'They are aman.' He whispered to himself and smiled inwardly. Finally, two of the strongest willed people he had ever met had crossed the emotional battlefield and admitted their love for one another. 'Lovers,' he thought. 'She is calling him 'dear' they must be lovers. I am glad. Himura deserves some happiness and peace, and Kamiya-dono is a strong and beautiful woman'. Suddenly he found himself wishing... wishing he could... he pushed the thoughts away violently reminding himself of his vow. 'Never will I,' he scourged his heart and mind. 'Never will I. For I am not worthy of such things and my peace will be found in solitude.' He watched as the boy stirred in the corner moaning as he discovered a few bruises left from his experience. Aoshi smiled ever so slightly.  
  
Kaoru stroked Kenshin's pale cheek with a gentle hand. She was not really worried about him being hurt; it was just that he had already been through so much. A low moan rose from his mouth, and he started to move. Rolling onto his back, Kenshin sat up slowly with Kaoru's firm assistance. A trembling hand rose to cover his eyes while he got his bearings and waited for the world to stop spinning. Kaoru wrapped her arm protectively around his shoulders and pulled him close to her side. "Are you alright?" She asked him quietly.  
  
"Yes, I think so." was his shaky reply. Disoriented violet eyes searched out Kaoru's face for reassurance, and she smiled at him and squeezed him with encouragement. "I feel very... strange." He admitted with a weak half smile. Then he turned to face Aoshi, his face filled with deep respect and gratitude, as well as uncertainty. "Why did you do that?"  
  
"Because you needed me to." Was the simply stated answer.  
  
Kenshin's head dropped as he considered Aoshi's reasoning, then he responded. "I understand your reason, but I do not understand your motive. Why do you help me, Aoshi?"  
  
"Because you go to face something terrible, Himura, and you cannot do it as you are now."  
  
Kenshin's head shot up and his eyes burned into Aoshi's. "How do you know that?"  
  
Aoshi cocked his head to one side as he considered the surprised face of the red haired man sitting across from him. "Because you have no shield to protect your soul or your feelings. You are naked, Himura. I can see everything that is pressing on your heart and causing you sorrow."  
  
Kenshin's face showed his despair. "I had no idea I was so impaired as that."  
  
"Perhaps not to all of those around you, but I can see more deeply than most. It is one of my most well developed skills... remember."  
  
"True, but it does not change the fact that you now know I am not much more than a wraith of my former self. I am... diminished."   
  
"You must not consider yourself in such a way, shin-yuu. If you do, the healing process of your ki will be greatly impeded, and you will continue to put yourself... and the ones you love in danger." He met Kenshin's startled gaze steadily. "You are still responsible for the protection of many lives, Himura. If you allow your confidence in yourself to falter, you will fail in that responsibility as well as lose your own life."  
  
Kaoru's eyes rose to meet Aoshi's firm gaze. "What are you trying to say, Aoshi? That if Kenshin doubts himself even a little, we could all die?"  
  
"Yes." The answer was as emotionless as his face.  
  
"How can you say that? You don't even know what is going on." Kaoru felt an arrow of alarm pierce her heart as she tried not to think about what Aoshi was insinuating.  
  
"No, you are right. I do not know what is going on, but let me tell you what I do know, Kaoru-dono. I know that Himura has been through an experience that striped him of his spirit-ki. A ki of such strength and will that he has been able to overcome more obstacles of the soul than any other man I have known." His jade eyes glittered with intense feeling as he continued. "I know that he has seen something of such horror it has left a wound upon his heart that may never heal, and it has  
  
caused him to lose his confidence and self-resolve. And I know that if he is to face it again without his spirit-ki and self assurance fully restored, he will not have the strength of will to protect any of you, or  
  
save himself. That is what I know, Kaoru-dono." His gaze shifted to Kenshin's resigned visage. "He knows this too."  
  
Kaoru turned her uncertain eyes to her beloveds face, and found him looking at a spot on the wall, his eyes reflecting the uncertainty and vulnerability within his soul that Aoshi had just described to her. "Kenshin..?" She searched his profile for reassurance desperately wanting to hear that none of it was true. That he was just as strong within himself as he had always been, but...  
  
"It is true, Kaoru. Aoshi is right." He refused to meet her eyes. "I have lost my self resolve and confidence. I do not have the strength to protect you right now." Violet eyes dropped in shame. "I am not only naked, but I am also only a shell... I am a disgrace to myself... And to you."  
  
"Stop it!" She shook him hard. "Stop it right now! I won't hear any more of this kind of talk from you. Do you hear me?" She shook him again until he met her eyes. "No more. If your ki is that badly damaged, then we will do whatever we have to to fix it and to fix you. Are you listening to me you stubborn ruroni?" Her voice was as fierce as the look on her face as she glared into his shocked eyes. "That is why I am here with you, to help you, but I will be damned if I am listening to one more minute of this self depreciating bullshit from YOU!"  
  
"Kaoru," his gentle voice admonished her. "I thought we had discussed your language problem already." When she gave him an outraged look of complete disbelief, he offered her a tired half smile and pressed his forehead against hers. "You really should learn more restraint when your angry, my love." A low chuckle of resignation rose from his chest and he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him so he could bury his face in the curve of her shoulder. "All right, you  
  
win koishii. You win. No more self-depreciation. If you believe we can fix me together, then I have to believe you. After all, you are 'Kaoru'." A cascade of giggles erupted from her as she nuzzled her face against his throat and looped both her arms around his shoulders.  
  
"Yes, I am, and don't you forget it."  
  
"Geez," Yahiko's condescending voice floated over from the corner. "They are at it again. What is it with grown-ups and this love thing? All they want to do is hang all over on each other and kiss all the time. I don't get it. Who wants to kiss a busu anyway?"  
  
"YAHIKO!!" Kaoru started to pull away from Kenshin with the intent of pounding her deshi into the floor, but Kenshin held onto her and motioned swiftly for Yahiko to make a quit exit while he had the chance. The younger man, seeing how angry his sensei was, decided it was in his  
  
best interest to make himself scarce and bolted out the door.  
  
"Chicken!" Kaoru shouted after his fleeing form. "I'll get you later!" Rotten brat!  
  
"Let him go, Kaoru. He is just a boy after all." Kenshin pressed a soft kiss against her flushed cheek. "You should not let him upset you so." he was trying to reason with her, and smother his amusement at the same time.  
  
"A boy?? Are you insane, Kenshin? He's pure monster from his head to his toes. Pure unmitigated monster." Kenshin and Aoshi shared a brief understanding look as Kaoru continued to shoot daggers in the direction Yahiko had disappeared in. Some things would never change.  
  
******************  
  
Seta Soujiro and Makimachi Misao were walking back to the Aoiya after going to the market for rice and tofu when they bumped into a running Yahiko. Literally. Both landed in undignified heaps on the ground.  
  
"Hey, watch out where you're going you stupid girl!"  
  
"Why don't you watch where you're going you scrawny brat!?"  
  
And as they exchanged heated insults they turned to look at each other as a state of de-ja-vu hit them both at the same time.  
  
"Yahiko!"  
  
"Misao!"  
  
The two friends were suddenly laughing and talking about how funny the whole situation was, and how they just seemed to keep 'bumping' into each other.   
  
"Hey, what are you doing in Kyoto? I didn't know you were coming? Who came with you? Did Kaoru come? Where are you staying?"  
  
"Geez," Yahiko sighed in disbelief. "Girls." Taking a deep breath, he met Misoa's blue eyes and started to tell her why they were in Kyoto.  
  
"Wow," her voice was filled with shock. "Is Himura going to be alright? I mean, is he getting better and all? I can't imagine him like that. I mean sick and weakened. It just doesn't fit his image, you know."  
  
"Yeah, he's really skinny and white, but you know Kenshin. He can do anything." Yahiko's face beamed with pride as he spoke the last words. His belief in Kenshin was unconditional, and his loyalty unwavering.  
  
"I hope you're right." Misao looked out across the dusty street thoughtfully. "You say they're both at the Aoiya right now? Himura and Kaoru?"  
  
"Uh-huh. Kenshin wanted to come for one big reason."  
  
"Oh," Misao looked at him in frank curiosity. "What would that be?"  
  
"The Tenken. I told him about you guys finding him and how he's living with you now, and all of a sudden he wanted to come and see him right away. It was kinda weird."  
  
"He... he wants to see me?" The soft precise voice behind Yahiko caused him to and screeches in fright. He had not known anyone was there. Quickly turning around, he came face to face with Seta Squire, the Tenkin. The swordsman that had broken Kenshin's original sakobatou.   
  
"Whooaa... ahhh... hello." Yahiko was stammering as he looked into the young almost feminine features of the man who had been considered one of the most dangerous and skillful assassins in Japan. He did not look much taller than Kenshin, and certainly no more intimidating. If this was the  
  
infamous Tenken, then Yahiko almost felt disappointed.  
  
"Are you Seta Soujiro?"   
  
"Yes. That is my name." A bright merry smile lit up the mans face and made his deep blue eyes dance. "Who are you?"  
  
"Oh I'm sorry, Sou-sen." Misao rushed to make the proper introductions. "This is Myojin Yahiko. He's part of Kenshin's group. He's a friend."  
  
"I see. I am very glad to meet you, Myojin-san." The unobtrusive looking young man with short cut brown hair and blue eyes bowed in formal greeting to Yahiko, who could do nothing but stare with amazement. Soujiro rose and looked into Yahiko's stunned face and smiled again.   
  
"What is wrong, Myojin-san? I am not what you expected?" Girlish laughter bubbled over his full lips and he bowed again. "Do not be alarmed or embarrassed. I have never appeared to be what others thought I would be. That was one of the reasons I was such a good assassin." At the deepened look of shock on the boys face, Soujiro elaborated with much amusement. "Well, do I look like a cold blooded murderer to you?"  
  
Yahiko was taken off guard by the flippant question and found himself looking the Tenken over head to toe. "Well," his head dipped to one side. "Actually, no you don't. You look more like one of those pretty boys who walk the down side streets in Tokoyo."  
  
"Yahiko!!!" Misao's hand whacked him hard in the back of the head sending him reeling into the dirt. "That was a lousy thing to say to Sou-sen. You apologize right now or I'm gonna... "  
  
"No, it is alright Misao." Soujiro was laughing as he helped Yahiko to his feet. "To tell the truth, that happens to be one of the identities I used to assumed when I wanted to wander the streets  
  
without being noticed. It worked very well for me... obviously." He was brushing the dirt off Yahiko's hakima while he laughed. "It was a fine observation, Myojin-san." When brown eyes finally met dancing blue ones, Yahiko felt the last of his trepidations evaporate about this odd man,  
  
and he began to laugh too.  
  
"I'm sorry, Seta-san. That really wasn't very nice of me considering I just met you. I am sorry." Yahiko bowed in apology to Soujiro even though he was still sniggering. "Kenshin told me I should be respectful of you, and I really haven't been. Please forgive me. I will try and remember who you are from now on."  
  
"Who I am?" Soujiro's facial expression barely registered his confusion. "Who am I, Myojin-san?"  
  
Yahiko glanced at the other man feeling a little bit of anxiety squeeze his heart. "You're a great swordsman, Seta-san. Y-you almost beat Kenshin in battou-jusu, and you broke his old reverse blade sword." he looked at Misao for reassurance. "You're one of the finest and most  
  
gifted swordsmen to ever hold a blade."  
  
"Is that what I am?" The voice dropped to a mere whisper as Soujiro dropped his gazes and looked at the ground. "We should be getting back to the Aoiya now. Aoshi-san will be wondering what has taken us so long. Come." He walked away from a confused Yahiko and a worried Misao.  
  
"What did I say? Misao?" Yahiko looked at Misao in abject confusion. "What did I say?"  
  
"I'm not sure, Yahiko. But whatever it was, it struck him deeply. Very deeply."  
  
"I'm sorry, Misao. I didn't mean to do anything wrong. I really didn't."  
  
"You didn't. I think you just may have reminded him of something he hasn't thought of for quite a long time."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Holding his sword."  
  
"What??"  
  
"He hasn't touched a sword since the day Himura defeated him at Shishio's compound. He can talk about those days as long as they stay in the past, but he has not identified himself with the 'Sword of Heaven' for a very long time."  
  
"'The Sword of Heaven'?"  
  
"That's what Tenken stands for. 'The Sword of Heaven'. There is a lot about Sets-san's past we don't understand just like Himura's past as the Battousai. Memories and guilt that they will never share or speak of to anyone. Seta-san is trying to find himself now, like Himura did when he was wandering all those years, and being reminded of who he was and what that person stood for must feel very strange to him right now."  
  
"Wow, I really feel like a jerk."  
  
"Don't. You didn't know. Seta-san won't hold it against you. He's not like that. He's not like that at all."  
  
"He's really weird, Misao. He's not like a murderer at all."  
  
"Neither is Himura, is he Yahiko. What is a murderer like? Do any of us really know?"  
  
This perspective gave the young apprentice pause to consider the many people he knew, and how many of them he knew had killed people whether in self-defense or for other reasons. He realized Misao was right. Did any of them really know what or who a murderer was? Kenshin had killed hundreds of men during the Bakomatsu, most of them in cold-blooded assassinations, yet did Yahiko look at him as a murderer? Migumi had made opium that was sold on the streets to teenagers and kids, and a lot of them died from overdoses. Was she a murderer because she made the  
  
drug even though she didn't sell it? Even the members of the Onniwabanshu had killed. All of these people meant something to him in his life. Did he look at them as murderers? A strange understanding came to Yahiko in those few moments. There was very little difference between  
  
Kenshin and Seta-san. The only real one was that Yahiko had met Kenshin as a ruroni after his days of being an assassin, and Seta-san had come into his life while still living and working as one.  
  
"You are right, Misao. What do any of us really know about murderers and killers?" His eyes followed the retreating back of Seta Soujiro with sadness. "We don't know anything." And he picked his feet up to follow the other man through the dirty streets as they wound their way back to the Aoiya.  
  
************  
  
Kenshin, Kaoru, and Aoshi were finally relaxing and enjoying the tea Okon had promised them when they first arrived. They were no longer setting inside, but had chosen a shaded grassy place in the courtyard where they could enjoy the cool breeze and the late morning sun. Kenshin  
  
was showing noticeable signs of an improved countenance. His eyes were brighter, his skin was showing a touch of pink color instead of the unhealthy pale it had been for so long, and his spirits seemed to be lighter and more carefree as he sat conversing openly with several members of the Onniwabanshu including the old man, Okina.  
  
The front shoji suddenly burst open and a wildly excited Misao charged through them squealing out in pure delight as she ran across the yard to throw herself into Kaoru's arms.  
  
"KAORU!!!" The two girls went rolling backwards across the grass arms, legs, and feet's flying amidst a cacophony of giggles and screams.   
  
"I told you Misao would be ecstatic." Aoshi's voice was a failed attempt at being bland as an unmistakable note of affection wove its way into his words..  
  
"Yes, so I see." Kenshin replied with an amused smile. "I hope Kaoru had finished chewing her sandwich before Misao got to her. That I do." Several good-natured chuckles and laughs passed through the group as everyone watched the spectacle the two girls made as they hugged and cried over each other.  
  
"Girls." Yahiko's derisive voice reached Kenshin's ears and he turned to see the young man walking across the yard with a disgusted look on his face. Kenshin laughed and gave Yahiko a knowing and indulgent smile. "You may not think it is so bad one day, you know."  
  
"Blahhhk... they always act so silly and stupid. I don't know how you can stand it."  
  
"I suppose you feel the same way about Tsubame. Yes?" Kenshin cast a meaningful glance at the now furiously blushing boy.  
  
"Shut-up! I don't know what you're talking about. Besides, she never acts that way anyway." And he stomped away muttering to himself about stupid girls and rotten friends.  
  
Kenshin laughed to himself, Yahiko would learn soon enough. His warm violet eyes turned back towards the two girls who were now setting up talking animatedly and wiping tears off each other's cheeks. "Women," He mused quietly. 'Where would we men be without them?' An unbidden feeling of loneliness coursed through him at that thought. 'We would be alone.' Instinctively his gaze sought out Kaoru's face, and cradled the image of it in his mind. "I do not want to be alone anymore." He whispered to the image of his happiness. "I do not want to be without you ever again, Kaoru."  
  
Then, as though she could feel the intensity of his eyes upon her, Kaoru paused in her conversation with Misao and looked into his face. Shining blue sapphires locked gazes with dark violet amethysts in warm look of longing and need. An energy wave of silent communication flowed freely between them, and she sensed the tiny bud of anxiety in Kenshin's heart. Reaching out with her mind and her heart, Kaoru sent as much love and reassurance to him as she could summon from within herself. She watched as a tender smile crossed Kenshin's face, and then felt herself covered by and filled with an amazing warmth and peace tinged with a sense of hunger that brought both a smile and a blush to her face. Activity continued on around them without stopping, and no one seemed to notice the meaningful look the lovers shared Then Kaoru glanced down shyly, breaking the contact and returned to her conversation with Misao.   
  
Kenshin took a sip of his tea and watched her over the rim of his cup. His mind was wandering into the future about eight or nine hours and thinking about where he wanted to be at that moment in time, and what he wanted to be doing. A very wicked very male smile curled his lips,  
  
and he took another sip of tea.  
  
"Himura-san... Myojin-san has told me you came here looking for me." A gentle, strangely familiar voice at Kenshin's side interrupted his fantasy-musings about his lover, and he turned toward the sound.  
  
"Soujirou... " The young man was standing beside him looking much the same as he had the last time Kenshin had seen him. His brown hair was neatly cropped close to his head, his clothes were the same mix of young gentleman and peasant, and he still held himself straight and proud as a prince. But Kenshin could see a change in the man who had once been known as the 'Tenken'. There was a shimmering and shifting of new and fragile emotions glimmering just beneath the surface of he consciousness. Something that had not been there before.   
  
Soujirou was evolving. He was developing feelings.  
  
Kenshin stood and faced the younger man. He lifted a hand and placed it on Soujirou's shoulder and looked hard into his blue eyes. In them he saw a touch of the old merriment that had been there before, but he could also see surprise, amusement, and...   
  
"Have I upset you by coming here, Soujirou? Do I make you feel uncomfortable?" Kenshin was very concerned by what he had seen in the other mans eyes. "I did not come here to upset you. That I did not."  
  
Soujirou's head dropped in the face of Kenshin's concern. "You have not upset me, Himura-san. It is just that I had hoped to be better prepared the next time I saw you. It seems you have come to me before that could happen." Kenshin felt a shift in Soujirou's ki, and he sensed a profound sadness from him. "I had hoped to be... well, I had hoped I would be more... natural. More like a real person. I wanted to show you that I was trying to find out who I was like you told me to, but you have come too soon. You will be disappointed in me, and I so wanted to make you proud. Truly I did."  
  
"Oh Soujirou, I am proud of you." Kenshin gripped Soujirou's other shoulder and waited for the younger man to look at him. "I am proud of you. Look at what you have done with your life in the last year. You have found a home, people who care about you, and who you have learned to care about. You are learning to live in the real world where emotions exist, you are allowing yours to come to the surface, and you are slowly accepting them."   
  
Soujirou's eyes were filling with rare tears as he listened to Kenshin lay out his personal accomplishments before him. Ever since the day he had lost the last battou-jusu battle to this man, he had done nothing but strive to do what he had told him too. Kenshin had explained that life could not be defined by winning or losing a fight, it was constructed out of experiences, mistakes, and overcoming to learn a personal truth. He had started to understand that as he wandered through  
  
Japan's countryside, but not any more deeply than he had during his months living at the Aoiya. Among these people he had learned unconditional compassion, the incredible sensation of being accepted without reservation despite his past as their enemy, and finally being made part of their family without realizing it had happened until the day he had decided it was time to leave, and it caused such an emotional upheaval he had to stay. Now he stood face to face with the one man he  
  
respected most in the world, and he was telling him he was proud of what he had done with his life. Soujirou felt as if his heart was going to burst with the enormity of the emotions coursing though it at that moment.  
  
"You are truly proud of what I have done, Himura-san? Even though I am still clumsy and unsure, and I do not always know how to act, and I make foolish mistakes??" His quiet cultured voice chocked on a barely suppressed sob.   
  
Soujirou, crying? Kenshin was astounded. "Yes, Soujirou. I am proud even if you still make mistakes. Mistakes help us grow. Without making any mistakes, people would never change or evolve, and no one would have the chance to make amends, ask for forgiveness, or move forward and progress." His voice took on a gentle almost nurturing tone, and he took a step closer to Soujirou. "And for men like you and I, shin-yuu, learning from our mistakes is our only hope for redemption in this life. There is nothing else for us but to ask for the forgiveness of our blood stained guilty souls from those who choose to love us, accept it when it is given, and reach out for whatever happiness is offered to us." Tears started to slide down Soujirou's boyish face as he searched Kenshin's eyes. "You have done well in the time you have had. What more can I ask of you? And what right do I have to demand more of you than your personal evolution will permit through its own time?" He took another step closer to Soujirou and whispered, "I have no right to ask or demand anything of you, Seta Soujirou, and I have no intention of doing so either. All I wish to do is share this with you as your friend, and as a kindred soul who knows and understands the path you are walking and the difficulties you face. I will always be proud of you. Always."   
  
Seta Soujirou, once the feared 'Sword of Heaven', finally gave into the silent tears he was fighting to hold back, and took the last step toward the red haired swordsman he admired so much. He put one arm around Kenshin's shoulders and the other around his back, and then laid his head on the slim shoulder and let the quiet sobs come.  
  
Kenshin held Soujirou against him like a crying child while his broken sobs shook both men with their force.   
  
So many feelings surged through Kenshin as he tried to comfort Soujirou through this raging storm of emotional release. He felt like a Father, a brother, a priest? He could feel a great burgeoning ball of something growing inside of him, and it was getting larger and larger by the second. It was reaching massive proportions, and Kenshin knew it was going to explode. He tightened his embrace around Soujirou and waited.   
  
The explosion brought with it a rush of tears and a deep sense of attachment for the young man crying in his arms. Kenshin knew the only Father figures Soujirou had had in his life had been an abusive uncle and Shishio Makoto. He had never known the love of an older mature male who  
  
He could look up to and respect. As Kenshin buried his tear-wet face against the back of Soujirou's head where it lay exposed on his shoulder, he felt the realization that he wanted to be that man.  
  
Soujirou felt Kenshin press his face into his hair and tighten his arms around him. A moment later he could feel the wetness of Kenshin's tears on the skin of his neck. Then he started to become aware of something else. Something that was like a low vibration or hum that was  
  
beginning to penetrate his body. It felt warm and comforting and he had the uncontrollable urge to burrow his face deeper against Kenshin's shoulder as well as tighten his arms around him.  
  
"Why do you cry? Himura-san?" It was barely a whisper on the breeze.  
  
"You have touched me, Soujirou. You have touched something deep inside of my heart and my soul."  
  
"I... have touched you??" Confusion and incredulity.  
  
"Yes. YOU. You, Seta Soujirou. You are becoming part of my heart just as if.... just as if..." His voice trailed of as a powerful emotion gripped him and a huge lump grew in his throat.  
  
"'Just as if' what? What, Himura-san?" Anxiety.  
  
Kenshin took several deep breaths to calm himself. Then he spoke just for Soujirou. "Just as if you were my own... sotsu." He heard a deep gasp of surprise and...   
  
"Your sotsu?? You would treat me as a son?" Amazement. Hope?  
  
"Yes, if you would allow me too. I would be honored to be a Father to you. That I would, but I would also want to remain your friend. I value as a friend, Soujirou. That I do."  
  
Soujirou pulled back away from Kenshin and looked into his face with wide innocent eyes. "You would be my Otou-san and my shin-yuu?" Vulnerability. Astonishment.  
  
"Yes."  
  
A small but honest smile lit Soujirou's face, and he stepped back two steps. He searched out Kenshin's gaze and held in firmly with his own for a long meaningful moment. Then leaning over from the waist, he bowed very deeply and formally to the red-haired man before him. He held the bow for several long seconds accentuating the amount of respect and honor he felt for and offered to him. As he rose to stand straight, he spoke quietly but clearly and everyone around them listened in stunned silence to what he had to say.  
  
"From this day forward in my life, I would like to officially attach myself both morally and emotionally to the clan of the Onniwabanshu and call my home the Aoiya." He bowed to Aoshi respectfully and received a nod of acceptance from him, one from Misao, one from Okina, and one from each one of the other members. "Now, although my name is Seta Soujirou, and thus it will stay, I wish to relinquish all rights to that name and whatever titles that are attached to it. Further more, I wish to ask Himura Kenshin if he would stand with me as my mentor, friend, and..." he  
  
paused and looked at Kenshin who nodded at him in approval. "And as my Father, for he is the one man I respect and honor most in this world, and he is the only man I am fully able to trust with my life as I am now." Soujirou knelt down on one knee in front of Kenshin and bowed his head  
  
Kenshin stepped to Soujirou and placed both hands on his head working his fingers into the thick brown hair as he bent to look at the man kneeling at his feet. When he spoke, his voice was steady, firm, and filled with certain purpose.  
  
"I hold your head in my hands, Seta Soujirou, and as I do this, I accept you into my soul as my friend and comrade; I accept you as my apprentice in matters of life only; and I accept you into my heart as the boy you were to be my son as you are now. I will always be here for you. I will be your rock to lean upon when you are weary, I will be the shade that comforts you in the blinding heat when your strength has gone, and I will be the water that quenches the thirst of your parched soul when you feel all is lost. My sword will defend you, and I pledge my life to protect you when you are weak. I will keep you safe until my dying breath." He pulled Soujirou's head against his body and held him. "Welcome into my life, my son. Welcome into my heart, my sotsu. Welcome  
  
Home, Soujirou."   
  
  
  
************  
  
"Kenshin isn't old enough to be Seta-san's Father, is he Kaoru?"  
  
"No, Yahiko. He's only ten or eleven years older, but that is not the point."  
  
"Point? What 'point' are you talking about? I can't wait to grow-up just so I know what you guys are talking about all the time." An irritated sigh accompanied his words as well as a scowl.  
  
"If you would listen, you could figure a lot of it out by yourself, you dope."  
  
"Hey! I'm not a dope!"  
  
"Fine. How about stupid?'  
  
"Shut-up, Kaoru and just tell me what's going on, OK."  
  
"Alright. No, Kenshin is not old enough to be Seta-san's Father, but the kind and amount of respect he has for Kenshin makes it so that does not matter. Get it?"  
  
"You mean he looks up to Kenshin more than anybody else, so he can look at him as a Father even though he is not that much older than he is?"  
  
"Yes, sort of. It is a little more than that though. There are a lot of feelings between Kenshin and Seta-san besides just respect and honor."  
  
"Feelings? Are you talking about what I think you're talking about? Yahiko looked skeptical.   
  
"That depends. What do you think I'm talking about?" She looked at his face and lifted her eyebrows questioningly.  
  
"Are you telling me they... like love each other or something? I mean... blllechch! That's just wrong... guys don't love each other, Kaoru. At least not grown men."   
  
"Don't they?" Her eyes probed his disgusted face in wonder. "Then I suppose you don't love Kenshin do you. The only reason you wanted to find him so badly was because.... you were afraid you would not get his sakobatou when he quit using it? Or maybe because you were worried  
  
about having to go back to eating my cooking forever? Or maybe it was just because you would be the only man around the dojo for the students to go to for advice, and you didn't want all that responsibility for yourself." She watched his face change from a look of disgust to one of alarmed astonishment.  
  
"I don't suppose you look at Kenshin as anything except a wandering ruroni, an incredible swordsman, a good friend, and maybe your hero. Is that about it, Yahiko? He has never meant anything else to you beside that?" A sidelong glance easily picked up her young deshi's growing  
  
discomfort as everything she was saying started to sink in.  
  
"Well I ... " His brown eyes started to study the toes of his tabi. "I guess I never thought about it like that."  
  
"Like what? Like Kenshin could mean as much to another 'man' in the same way he does to you, and that another man could mean as much to Kenshin as you do?" These words were more gently spoken and Kaoru laid a comforting hand on the boys' hunched shoulder.  
  
"I guess so."  
  
"Did you think you would stop loving Kenshin when you grew up, Yahiko. Would he become less of a father-type figure to you just because you had matured into an adult? Would he mean less to you because of the belief that 'grown men do not love each other'?"  
  
Yahiko's head jerked up, and he stared at Kaoru's face with wide eyes. "No! I've never thought that. Kenshin's been more of a Father to me in the last two years than my own father was in my whole life. He's taught me everything I know that's worth knowing." Yahiko's eyes searched out the red haired swordsman setting across the courtyard with Aoshi and Soujirou. "He's the only one who ever tried to teach me anything about being a man, and yesterday he told me he was proud of the man I was becoming."  
  
"Yahiko, I'm so glad. You mean so much to him, you know."  
  
"Yeah, I guess so." He was looking at his tabi again.  
  
"Do you think you can share him with Seta-san?" It was a very carefully asked question.  
  
"I guess so. Kenshin is a really good guy, and he's always trying to help everybody. If he thinks he can help Seta-san become a better person by being his friend and a father-type thing, then that's what he should do. Besides," He smiled wickedly as Kaoru. "Look what he did for me."  
  
Both burst out laughing.  
  
Across the courtyard Kenshin was watching the exchange going on between his lover and her deshi. "I wonder what is so important that Yahiko would have such a serious look on his face." It was a mental thought that he was unaware he had spoken out loud, until Aoshi offered a reply.  
  
"Perhaps it has something to do with your increasing the size of the Kenshin-gumi. He has been your only ahhh, 'son' for some time now. It must have been quite a surprise for him to watch you bring Seta-san into your life in such a formal and long-term way."  
  
Kenshin's brow wrinkled in concern. "Do you think I have upset him, Aoshi?"  
  
"It is not for me to say, Himura, but I would think from the look of things that your aman is taking care of the matter quite efficiently. I would not trouble yourself with concern over it unless the need arises for such a thing."  
  
Kenshin turned a mildly stunned face in Aoshi's direction. Soujirou quickly hid his smile behind a cup of tea, and dropped his eyes to avoid the look on his adoptive fathers face.  
  
"Did I hear you right, Aoshi?"  
  
"Of course, you did. I told you not to trouble yourself. You have nothing to be concerned about. Everything is well in hand."  
  
"That is not what I was referring to, shin-yuu." His violet eyes were glittering with amused accusation.  
  
"Then I don't understand." Aoshi looked baffled.   
  
"My 'aman'??"  
  
Aoshi was nonplused. "Am I mistaken?" he asked. "I was quite certain earlier when she rushed to your aid after our fusion that your relationship had reached that level." He looked at Soujirou then back at Kenshin even further baffled. "Did I misunderstand?"  
  
Kenshin dropped his chin and laughed in defeat. "No, Aoshi. You were not mistaken."  
  
"Then what is the problem, Himura? I am not following the gist of this conversation."  
  
"Oh Aoshi, sometimes you are naive as a child." Violet eyes danced with mischief. "It was how you said it. So matter of fact and without any meaning or emotion what so ever as if calling Kaoru my lover were a common day occurrence." Soujirou giggled into his tea.  
  
Aoshi sat unmoving lost in deep contemplation of Kenshin's words for many long moments before his eyes cleared and a small smile of understanding curved his thin lips. "Ahh, I think I am seeing what was so... strange about what I said." His eyes dropped and the tiniest of chuckles was heard issuing from his direction. Kenshin and Soujirou shared a shocked look of pure amazement. Aoshi laughing?  
  
"I am sorry, Himura. I truly did not even consider the implications of what I was saying at the time I said it." Jade eyes tinged with mirth met astonished violet. "I did not mean to make offense. I am actually quite pleased you and Kaoru-dono have finally found one another and  
  
admitted your love. Kami knows... it took you long enough."  
  
Soujirou could not stand it any longer and burst into a full-fledged belly laugh that had him rolling on the ground. It was not long until everyone inside the Aoiya was laughing with him.  
  
It had turned out to be a very good day after all. 


	9. The Gray Mists of Morning

Welcome to the world of Lady Elsbeth Katsura. May her soul roast in every lasting Hell. (Don't you just hate her??). She is the nastiest, rottenest, meanest, and most cruel bitch I could think of... and I had a blast with her. ^_^ The badies are always lots and lots of fun.  
  
Sorry, I guess my sadistic side is showing. Goes with the territory of having 3 teenage son's and being a registered nurse for waaaaay toooo many years, and seeing waaaay toooo much shit. LOL  
  
By the way... this is a bit of a transition chapter. It ended up being something I had to go back and write one night after I had set editing for a few hours and realized there were a whole bunch of loose ends that needed tying up. So, like a good girl, I went back and tied away.   
  
It did help a great deal... Enjoy.  
  
Glossary: Sotsu=son, Koishii=dear or darling, Otan=father, Aishiteru=I love you, Jou-chan=young lady, Retsujou=carnal desire, Shikijou=lust, Meito=mate, Omeka=sex, Aisai=beloved wife, Anata=endearment from a wife to her husband   
  
Chapter Nine  
  
  
  
The Grey Mists of Morning  
  
Her small feet barely made a wisp of a sound as she ran across the fine Persian carpets strewn about the smooth wood floors. Hardly a disturbance in the air signaled her passing. She seemed barely more that a shadow among the hundreds of other shadows occupying the darkened  
  
room. A flash of brilliant sea green captured by a shaft of moonlight coming through one of the large windows was the only tangible evidence that anyone was in the room at all as a shimmering fold of her nightdress was illuminated for the briefest of moments in the eerie white light.   
  
It was close to two o'clock in the morning and very soon the large clock in the main hall would chime the hour. The thought added a rush of speed to her tiny steps, and she reached the old wrought iron spiral staircase in the center of the room quickly. Carefully, so as not to make the cables suspending the stairway from the ceiling moan or creak, she climbed each stair with slow gently placed feet letting the metal get used to her light weight gradually until she stood fully on each step. It was slow going, and it took her the better part of an hour to climb to the next floor, but she reached it successfully without making a single sound to give herself away.  
  
There was more light on the second floor, and it was much easier to navigate around chairs and tables. The small framed woman deftly wove her way across the length of the room until she reached a large oaken desk covered with many papers and a fine leather valise. A huge crudely  
  
carved wooden statue of Buddha graced the left hand corner of the desk, and her tiny hand grabbed it and pulled backwards with a hard jerk. A faint whirring noise could be heard in the wall off to the left of the desk, and suddenly the bookcases that lined it split in half as one pushed itself forward from the other. A small opening in the wall appeared. There was no door, just a crudely fashioned hole that disappeared into the darkness beyond.  
  
The woman skittered towards the opening behind the bookcases, and pulled herself inside though the small space. The odor of sulphur rose in the air as she struck a match. Then the surroundings were lit with the dim golden light of an oil lamp. A corridor had been hewn into the  
  
stone of the mountainside the house itself had been built against. She picked up the lamp and entered the cave-like corridor. A large iron lever stood up from the floor next to the opening, and she pulled it backwards towards the inside of the tunnel. The whirring noise was heard again, and the bookcases slid closed shutting her inside. Quickly she was skittering down the length of the tunnel on her silent feet, the dim light of the oil lamp casting a golden ball of wavering reality about  
  
her as she went. Within a very short time, she had disappeared.  
  
It only took her a few minutes to reach her destination. The tunnel took a sharp turn to the left then abruptly opened up into a room that had been blasted out of the rock. The space was approximately 3meters long by 2.5 meters wide. In the North-west corner sat a single wide bed  
  
made of rough hewn boards held together with hemp and nails. The sagging mattress was filled with old straw, and gave off an old musty odor indicating it had been there for some time. Faded yellow cotton sheets were smoothed neatly over the lumpy surface, and a thread bare patchwork comforter lay folded across the foot. In the opposite corner stood a sight beyond terrible.  
  
A young woman not more than 15years of age was hanging suspended from the ceiling by a long chain and iron manacles clamped tightly around wrists oozing with pus and blood. The chain itself was attached to a large hook that had been pounded deep into the stone over her head. Her toes barely touched the floor to give her any support or offer any relief to her aching arms.  
  
She was naked except for a soiled shift that hung limply from her tortured shoulders. The front had been torn open and revealed her youthful body which had been horribly abused. Huge bruises covered her small breasts and stomach. Little cuts coated with dried blood peppered her thighs and could be seen tracing around her nipples. Her face was bruised and swollen. Once soft full lips were now split and bloodied from hours of being struck with fist and hand. Deep gouges were seen as well where she had bitten herself trying not to cry out in pain as unspeakable things were done to her body. Dark bruising beneath her dark green eyes only emphasized the pitiful look of defeat and despair reflected withing their dimming depths.   
  
She had struggled for a long time to retain her strength and will in the face of this torturous nightmare. A hope had remained within her that someone would find her and set her free, but now she had only one wish. She wished for release. She wished for death. It was the only means of escape and freedom left to her. Tears filled her eyes and spilled unchecked down her face as she watched the elegant lithe form of her mistress slither towards her. Those eyes, that smile, the perfect  
  
beauty.   
  
"Hello, my precious pet." She crooned and ran a gentle pale finger down the girls wet cheek. "Have you missed me?" A soft kiss on the swollen trembling lips. "I have missed you."  
  
"Kill me..." Was the whispered plea. "Please, kill me."  
  
"Oh no, dearest. Not yet. I have so much more planned for us. I promise you will like it." Another kiss, and the merest touch of a velvety tongue. "I promise." The sharp tip of a dagger pressed intimately against the girls quivering sex, and then slid slowly upward until it came to rest just over her frightened fluttering heart.   
  
The girls tear filled eyes suddenly took on a gleam of insanity and she spat in her mistresses beautiful face. "I do not think so!" She planted her toes firmly on the floor and lunged forward with all the strength she had left, impaling herself on the razor sharp blade.   
  
A high thin gasp of air was sucked into her lungs as the thin blade penetrated her chest and punctured her frantically beating heart with a wet pop. The world spun dizzily and began to fade as the gout of hot blood poured from the wound covering both women.  
  
"Thank-you, Kami...." She whispered as her clouded green eyes closed in peace.  
  
"NOOO! You fucking bitch!" Elsbeth ripped the blade from the girls chest cursing. She watched in impotent fury as the lifes blood ran free and formed a large puddle on the floor around the girls toes. "You bitch." Her breath hissed through clenched teeth, and she furiously stabbed the dagger into the corpses soft belly. "How dare you do this to me. How dare YOU!" Grabbing the hilt of the dagger in both of her small hands, Elsbeth proceeded the hack and slash the the girls lifeless body until it resembled no more than a mutilated bloody mess. However, she purposely left the face untouched.  
  
Hours passed before Elsbeth's anger was finally spent, and she sat panting on the edge of the bed. "I hope you burn in Hell, Honia Cleo, and may your Father go with you." She spat venomously. A smile of such malevolence crossed her face at that moment that the air in the room turned ice cold, and her breath became a steamy puff as she spoke. "Won't he be surprised to find you in your bed tomorrow morning." Horrible laughter echoed against the frost coated stone walls, and the puddle of blood coagulated and turned hard.  
  
  
  
"You seem unusually tired this morning, My Dear." Anaki Katsura touched his wife's hand in concern. "Didn't you sleep well?" He had noticed almost immediately that Elsbeth's usual bright countenance was greatly subdued and she had dark circles beneath her beautiful grey-green  
  
eyes. "Are you unwell, My Love?" His hand touched her forehead and cheek as he checked her for a fever, but found nothing.  
  
Elsbeth caught his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "I am fine, Anata. It is just a headache. I will drink some tea. I am sure that will help." She smiled and watched the worry leave his strong face. He was so easy to manipulate. "I did not mean to worry you."  
  
"I always worry about you, Elsbeth. You know that." Anaki returned to his breakfast satisfied with his wife's explanation. "I have been meaning to ask you something."  
  
"Hmmm..." Her eyes measured him warily. She was not sure she liked his tone.  
  
"Yes. It has been several years since we attending the Autumn Moon Festival in Kyoto, and I was thinking perhaps you may like to go this year." Brown eyes met her green ones questioningly. "Reports from the planning committee this year claim it will be the most spectacular Festival Kyoto has seen since the early days of the Empire." A mouthful of crepe's was stuffed into his mouth. "Unless you have something else planned."  
  
Elsbeth sat stunned. The Moon Festival? She had forgotten about it completely. Had her mind been so consumed by her obsession that she had forgotten one of the most important and magically powerful nights of the year? KUSO!! She screamed at herself in rage. 'You stupid bitch!! You could have ruined everything with your bloody personal vengeance.' Then she turned to her husband and purred in a loving tone, "I think that would be a wonderful idea, Darling. It has been far too long since we attended any of the Festivals. I would love to go." She gave him one of her most glittering smiles and basked in the satisfaction of watching him puff up with pleasure. "You are so wonderful to have thought of  
  
it." Leaning towards him, she coyly placed a tantalizing kiss on his firm lips. "You always think of everything, Anaki. That's why I love you so much." As his mouth opened to capture hers, Elsbeth's mind was already in full motion beginning to plan.  
  
Autumn Moon Festival in Kyoto. What a wonderful idea. After all, had not all good things come to pass in Kyoto? The Bakumatsu. The birth of the Hitokiri and the Battousai. The Shinsengumi and the Ishin Shishi battles. The assassinations of the Government Leaders. Lord Shishio's rise and fall in power, and so many other yummy things that made her heart beat wildly with unchecked glee. Yes, Kyoto was the perfect place for her Moon Ritual. The perfect place.  
  
"When will we leave, Anaki? How soon can we go?" Her voice was almost breathless with her anticipation.  
  
"As soon as you want, My Dear." He loved to make her happy.  
  
"Then let's leave tomorrow. I want to leave tomorrow."  
  
"Then we shall."   
  
Her eyes were shining like the sun glittering on the rolling sea. Her beauty was unmatched by any woman Anaki had ever known, and he would do anything for her. But this time he had no idea what he was doing, or what he had agreed to. And, although she was smiling like an angel, he  
  
had the heaviest feeling in his heart he could not explain. Shaking it off, he hugged her to him and kissed her flushed cheek. She was happy and that was all that mattered to him. That was all that had ever mattered.   
  
***************  
  
Kenshin had been spending time alone with Soujirou talking with him about his new surfacing emotions, and listening to the younger swordsmans issues of insecurity and self doubt about his future.  
  
"You can't rush your own evolution, Soujirou. You will become what you will when all things have finished working their way free and your soul is aligned with the man you are meant to be. Search out those things that you must, but the rest can come to you only through the progression of time and experience. You must learn your way to a higher plane. It is not simply a state of mind that is given to you because you wish it to be so."  
  
"It is all so difficult to understand, Himura-otan, and I fear at times that my mind is too stunted by the past to ever grow more than it already has." His eyes turned a deep blue-grey as they filled with anxious uncertainty. "What if I am never more than I am at this moment?"  
  
Kenshin sighed and placed a comforting hand on his adopted sons bent head. They were setting across from one another in a secluded shady area of the Aoiya's courtyard. "Then you must learn to accept yourself as you are, Soujirou-sotsu. You must be prepared to live with the man you  
  
are now despite your goals and aspirations of becoming whatever it is you expect yourself to be."  
  
"I want to be like you. I want to be wise and honorable. I want to be worthy of your respect, Himura-otan. I want to be a normal human being who feels emotions and sees the world through the eyes of a living soul, not the cold dead hearted assassin Lord Shishio taught me to be."  
  
"But, my sotsu, you are already all of those things to me whether you are to yourself or not. I no longer see the Tenken when I look at you." Soujirou shyly met the gentle violet eyes of his adopted father. "I see a man of endless patience and kindness. You are developing the emotions of a man who is finding contentment and peace in his life. Don't you see, Soujirou-sotsu? Your feet are already on the path of human evolution, and you are becoming exactly what you wish to be. You only have to give yourself the time necessary to achieve that goal."  
  
"Are you telling me I have already changed?"  
  
"Yes." Kenshin smiled into the surprised boyish face of the other man. "The days of heartless murder are long behind you now, and there is a new truth within your heart that you have begun to live by. No longer do you see the world one dimensionally from the point of view that Shishio taught you."  
  
"You are referring to 'If you are strong you live. If you are weak you die." aren't you."  
  
"Yes, I am. You do not seem to view the world through those twisted eyes anymore."  
  
"No, I do not think I do." Soujirou's voice was a low childish tone. "I have started to realize that everything has a place and a purpose in this world."  
  
"What made you see that? I am curious to know."  
  
"When I became ill and Okina-san found me and brought me back to the Aoiya." Grey-blue eyes filled with wonder and some confusion looked upward into the azure sky. "I was so weak I could not even hold up my own head or raise my hand. He fed me miso and gave me water from his  
  
own hands until I was strong enough to hold a cup and bowl myself. Were I still living by Lord Shishio's law, I should have been left to die by the side of the road irregardless of my situation, but I was not." A smile of genuine sincerity curved his handsome lips. "Okina-san took pity on his fallen enemy and cared for him until his strength was fully restored."  
  
"And what does that tell you?" Kenshin was watching the play of expressions dance across Soujirou's face as he talked.  
  
"I was not strong enough to survive alone." Earnest eyes met those understanding violet ones of his adopted father and friend. "No one is. People cannot survive without other people. We are all ultimately frail, fragile, and susceptible to death from more than just an enemies sword. The elements, grief, accidents, and the slow decay of age will and can claim our lives just the same as a swift warriors death. In the end, we are still just as dead, and death is equal among all beings without prejudice."  
  
Kenshin was nodding his head in agreement and pride as he listened to Soujirou's explanation of why Shishio's single truth was totally wrong. "You are understanding very well. All life is precious without exception, and as men we are the ones held responsible to protect it. It is not our place to judge who is worthy of life and who is not for we are as mortal as those we would judge, therefore; we are equal. Only God may judge who is worthy of life and who is not."  
  
"And we are not Gods, are we, Himura-otan. Niether was Lord Shishio." Soujirou's voice was sad and distant.  
  
"No. Shishio was NOT a God. Although he believed he had the right to decide who could live and who could die."   
  
"He never had that right, did he? There was a time I believed he did. I was so very wrong."  
  
"We all make mistakes, Soujirou-sotsu. We all have things in our past that we are far from proud of. Many of the leaders in the Meiji Government hold me in a level of great esteem and claim I was one of the key factors that helped bring peace to this country because of my role as the Hitokiri Battousai, but I am not proud of the things I did during that time. I am not proud of the man I was. There is so much of my soul that is stained with the blood of the men I killed in the name of peace, and there are times I wonder if I will ever be clean again."  
  
"I believe you are clean, Himura-otan. For you to have survived so many battles and gained such wisdom. I believe God has forgiven you your sins and made you clean again. You are not the same man who fought in the Bakumatsu."  
  
"I thank you for those kind words, my shin-yuu." Kenshin bowed low over his lap in humble acceptance of Soujirou's heart felt observation. "It would appear then that we have both evolved beyond the murder machines we once were. Let us be grateful."  
  
"Indeed, my Father. I am grateful. But I am more grateful for your wisdom than I am for anything else. For your eyes have seen what mine can only guess at, and your heart has felt the pain that I have yet to fully face. I am grateful you are with me on this journey." Soujirou's small almost feminine yet calloused hand reached out toward Kenshin who grasped it in one of his own.  
  
"I am glad I am with you as well, Soujirou. It is an honor for me to travel this path with you. Perhaps, there is more yet for me to learn, and you are meant to be my teacher." His smile was kind, and his eyes full of caring emotions.  
  
"Perhaps." Soujirou chuckled. "Though I can think of nothing I could possibly teach you, Himura-otan. Except possibly the ways of the wind."  
  
"The wind?"   
  
"If the moment presents itself, I will teach you, but until then you are well armed as you are." The smile on the boyish face was radiant, and with a final squeeze of Kenshin's hand, Soujirou rose to his feet and bid his adopted father good-day. Kenshin watched the younger man walk away feeling a warmth and trust settle in his heart.  
  
"You will succeed, Soujirou. You will be a fine, strong man one day, and you will find the answers to all the questions that are plaguing your heart. Just be patient, my sotsu. Be patient and let time and the progression of knowledge take care of you." His voice was a whisper on the soft Autumn breeze that wafted past him.   
  
Strength was returning to him swiftly. He could feel it surging through his blood and spirit as he sat within the security of his friends and family. The joining with Aoshi had rejuvenated him in a way that was difficult to describe. He could still feel the powerful essence of the ninja flowing through him like a great roaring ocean. Fire and Water. Perfect opposites. Yet they were the two most powerful elements in the universe. Combined together they were rebuilding Kenshin's ki with  
  
alarming swiftness and precision, and the power and strength he felt was already greater than that he had known on his own before. Aoshi had made him a stronger fighter. He had given him the ability to form a stronger more impenetrable shield to protect himself, and the core of his resolve was becoming more and more stable with each passing moment.  
  
The gifts of Hiko's ki and Aoshi's ki were healing Kenshin, but not only that, they were making him more than he had been before. He was becoming a warrior of the elements. A warrior for the earth, and a protector of her children. He was being prepared.  
  
"Here you are." The soft feminine voice brought a quick smile to his face. "I have been looking for you everywhere." Kaoru knelt down close next to Kenshin. The bright green of the grass was a beautiful contrast for the deep red of her kimono. She was wearing a soft pink obi and a matching ribbon in her shiny black hair. He reached out and took one of her hands in his and pulled it into his lap.  
  
"You could not have been looking for very long, koishii, I have been right here for quite sometime." He chuckled gently and bent to place a soft kiss on the back of her hand.  
  
"I did not want to interrupt you and Soujirou. It seemed the two of you were very deep into whatever it was you were discussing, and I did not want to intrude." Deep blue eyes gazed into his face lovingly. "I am so glad you did what you did for him today. It was a grand thing, Kenshin. Truly it was."  
  
Kenshin blushed and pulled her close to him so he could wrap his arms around her. "You are not upset I did it then?" His voice was slightly muffled as he buried his face against the curve of her neck. "I have worried about that a little bit, that I have." He purposefully nuzzled into her hair until his lips touched her skin.   
  
Kaoru's sharp intake of air told him that he had found a sensitive spot, and he pushed the tip of his tongue against it drawing tiny little circles of fire that he moved up the side of her throat until he  
  
reached her ear. "I have missed you, koishii." He breathed in a husky whisper that sent shivers through her. He pulled away to look thoughtfully into the deep blue pools of her passion filled eyes and lost himself inside of their warmth. A tender hand lifted to stroke the smooth creamy flesh of her cheek, and a soft smile of love curved his mouth as he watched her close those lovely eyes to nuzzle her face closer to his caressing hand.   
  
"Aishiteru Kenshin." She whispered and looked into his dark purple eyes. "I have missed you too." The hand touching her cheek gently slid around to cup the back of her head, and he pulled her face to his so the warmth of his searching mouth could find the waiting eagerness of hers.   
  
It was a soft moist kiss. A kiss filled with love, tenderness, and the joy of knowing that they were together at last. Kaoru's hands caressed Kenshin's bare chest inside of the open 'V' of his gi  
  
making him groan with male pleasure as he lifted her up and pulled her farther into his lap. His fingers nimbly untied her obi but only to the point that he could splay both hands along her back and crush her against him without the knot getting in the way. The kiss deepened and his tongue slid past her lips to dance and play with hers. Passion mounted between them as it always did, and Kenshin broke off the kiss burying his face against her kimono covered breasts his breathing harsh and ragged. Kaoru's hands were lost deep within his long red hair, and they pulled him closer to her as she bent over kissing the top of his head then rested her cheek against its softness. Her breathing matched his.   
  
Thus they sat until their hearts returned to a normal beat, and they could breath easy again. A wicked chuckle rose from Kenshin's chest as he nibbled provocatively at her partially exposed chest. Kaoru giggled and tried to wriggle away from him, but he held her fast.  
  
"I do not think you are going anywhere, jou-chan." His voice was mischievous.  
  
"Kenshin, let me go before someone sees us." A cascade of delighted giggles vibrated against his temple bringing yet another chuckle from him as well as a few more well placed nips.  
  
"And what are they going to see, my little jou-chan? Something terrible? Or perhaps something that will make them wish they had a pretty girl setting in their lap with her kimono half askew?" He was laughing, and she was giggling with delighted embarrassment, but she could feel his hands retying her obi and straightening her kimono at the same time.  
  
"You are evil, Kenshin. I swear it." Kaoru's eyes were dancing with laughter when heraised his head and looked into her face. He smiled and pulled her head down so he could kiss her again.  
  
"Mmmmm, you are right, my beautiful angel. I am evil, and wicked, and beyond all hope of reformation." He was trying to talk and kiss her at the same time. "I freely admit... kiss kiss..... that I am.... kiss.... hopelessly.... kiss kiss... unequivocally... kiss kiss kiss... deeply in love with you, and when... kiss kiss... you are in my arms... kiss... I can think of nothing... kiss kiss... but making love to  
  
you... kiss kiss... and it does not seem to matter... kiss kiss kiss... where we are at the time. You simply go to my head, koishii." And he seized her lips in a short, deep passionate kiss that left her  
  
breathless and wishing they were back at his room, but all she could do was hide her flushed face against his shoulder and wrap her arms tightly around him.  
  
"You don't go to my head, Kenshin." She nuzzled his throat tenderly. "When you hold me and kiss me like that, my brain just quits working all together." At that honest statement, they were both suffused with laughter. "I love you," she whispered and kissed his cheek.  
  
"I love you, my angel." He pressed his nose against hers and smiled. "Is it time we went home?" She giggled and kissed his lips when she heard the coaxing quality he had added to his question.  
  
"I suppose so. We have done about everything you wanted to do, haven't we?"  
  
"Umm-hum. All we need to do now is say our farewells, and we can be on our way. That we can."  
  
"What about Yahiko?" Kaoru sat up with a concerned look. "I... I do not really want to take him back with us just yet." She was biting her lip as her mind went to work trying to figure out a way around that little problem.  
  
"Not to worry, my love. I think Yahiko would be better off here with Misao and Aoshi than with us in my room. Here at the Aoiya he can have his own room instead of sharing one with us."  
  
"Oh Kenshin! That is a wonderful idea!" Kaoru threw her arms around his neck and hugged him again. "You think of everything." He smiled indulgently. Most of the time she was very good for his ego. It was just the rest of the time when she was thumping the hell out of him that he had to worry about.  
  
Shortly after that they were on their way back to Kenshin's room with Yahiko safely tucked away at the Aoiya under the watchful eyes of his new adopted brother, Seta Soujirou, and Shinomori Aoshi.  
  
They had been walking and talking for some time when Kaoru suddenly perked up and blurted out, "You think he will really be alright there? I mean, we aren't being too terribly selfish are we, Kenshin?" Kaoru was fretting over pawning Yahiko off on their friends instead of resuming  
  
her responsibility of his care. "Are you sure we did the right thing leaving Yahiko at the Aoiya?"  
  
"Kaoru," Kenshin's voice took on a reasonable tone. "I have a feeling that Yahiko would much rather be at the Aoiya with Soujirou and Misao that with US anyway. Considering our new relationship I am not sure he would want to share a room with us."  
  
"OH." All Kaoru could manage was a high pitched squeak as the meaning of what Kenshin was referring to finally sank in. "Goodness, I wonder what he must be thinking. OH DEAR. I had not thought of that."   
  
"I did not think you had, but I am sure he has." A rich barrage of laughter enveloped her as a deep blush stained her pale cheeks. "Not to worry, koishii. Yahiko is old enough to understand that kind of a relationship between a man and a woman, so do not go getting all bent out of shape over his knowing about us."  
  
"I do not care about him knowing about what men and women do," she was squeaking again. "It is that he knows that we are doing IT that bothers me." Kenshin could not help it. He burst into laughter, but then found himself dodging Kaoru's flying fists as her temper rose past the boiling point in less than a second. Not being fully up to par, he could not dodge her indefinitely, and she finally connected.  
  
TTHHWACK! Kaoru's right cross caught Kenshin square on the left side of his jaw and he went flying into the dusty street.  
  
"That ought to teach you, you rotten ruroni. Don't you ever laugh at me again, or I swear I'll beat you senseless." Kenshin opened his eyes just a crack and looked into the furious face of his beloved.  
  
"Ororo...."he moaned and struggled to a sitting position. "I was not laughing AT you, Kaoru. I was laughing at what you said." Getting to his feet was a little shaky, but she was there to help him. "We really need to work on your temper control." He offered her a wan smile.  
  
"Kenshin... I am sorry. I did not mean to hit you that hard." She was biting her lip again.  
  
"Not that hard?" He rubbed his sore jaw and chuckled. "I guess I would hate to see you when you seriously wanted to hit me." A dark blush stained her cheeks.  
  
"I said I was sorry." she muttered and walked away from him with her head bowed contritely. Kuso. She began to chastise herself harshly inside her own mind. 'Why do I always have to hit him when I get mad? Why cannot I just yell or throw things? He is probably really mad  
  
at me now.' She absently kicked a small stone and watched it tumble a few feet ahead of her.   
  
They were close to the boarding house, and Kenshin had worked up an appetite for Kaoru while they were kissing at the Aoiya. He looked at the dejected picture she made walking up the street with her head bent over and her feet shuffling aimlessly, and he could not help the smile that crossed his face. God, but he loved this woman. A wicked gleam filled his violet eyes, and they deepened to a dark blue-purple as his mind made the final decision. With a stride full of purpose and his new found strength Kenshin ducked his chin and determinedly walked straight for Kaoru.  
  
Kaoru looked up and noticed that they were almost back at Kenshin's room. 'Well, I sure blew it this time.' She thought angrily. 'Why can't I do anything right?' Baka Kaoru.  
  
Then all at once she found herself scooped up into a pair of strong and quite capable arms. "N-nn-nani?" she stuttered and then found herself looking into a pair of passionate hunger filled deep blue-purple eyes. "K-kenshin?" He did not say a single word to her, but just carried her the rest of the way to the house until he could slowly drop her feet to the floor in his room. As soon as her toes were on solid ground, his hands were untying her pink obi and tossing it carelessly aside.   
  
Kaoru's breathing quickened on a sharp gasp as he pealed her red kimono open and slipped it off her shoulders letting it fall to the floor in a heap around her ankles. A deep moan of hungry desire escaped his throat as his warm calloused hands rose to cup her soft white breasts and gently mold them into his palms.  
  
Kaoru's head was spinning, and she wrapped her arms around her lovers neck to keep from losing her balance. She could feel his hands on her flesh and his mouth was burning a heated pathway of fire along the curve of her throat and shoulder. As the thrill of his touch filled her senses and swept her away to that golden world of pleasure that only he knew of, Kaoru's head dropped backwards and dangled on her fragile neck. In response, one of Kenshin's hands lifted and cupped the back of her head supporting the weight easily as his mouth traveled down her throat and across her collarbones. His free hand moved behind her and fitted itself into the swaying curve in the small of her back, and he pressed her closer against the hard maleness of him. A hoarse high pitched moan  
  
was torn from her as she made contact with the rigidness of him, and her hands convulsively dug themselves deep into his hair loosening the tie that kept it bound. It tumbled loose and cascaded free into a rich glorious curtain of red-gold flame that further enveloped her in his world of fiery passion.  
  
"You belong to me." His voice was coarse and raspy. "You are my retsujou, my shikijou, my aikouka." The moist heat of his breath was at her cheek. " Desire, lust, love... you are all of these things to me and more." His hand lifted her limp head up, and deep blue out of focus passion filled eyes gazed at him. "You are my Mate, my meito. In the arms of omeka, there can be no one else for me but you, Kaoru. My arms can never hold another woman in this embrace of sexual fulfillment now that they have held you, My Beloved." His mouth fell to claim hers in a blistering kiss of love and passionate need. "In my heart, you are already my Wife." A soft sob shook her small frame as she rose to meet his mouth. "You are my Aisai. My beloved wife." And the golden  
  
world that had waited patiently for them opened its doors and ushered them inside.  
  
In the aftermath of their most passionate joining, Kenshin lay tilted on his side with his face nuzzled up in the hollowed curve of Kaoru's neck. His free arm was laying across her chest with his hand gently cupping the opposite side of her face. His eyes were closed and his breathing was deep and regular. Kaoru was certain he was asleep.  
  
She was laying on her back, one of her arms beneath his neck and around his shoulders lovingly holding him against her while her other arm was draped across the top of his where it lay on her chest. Her fingers were idly tracing tiny nonsensical patterns on his arm where his elbow bent between her breasts. One of his legs was riding comfortably between hers, and her foot was absently rubbing against his shin. He felt so good to her just laying with her like this. A part of her did not want him to ever move.  
  
The room was quiet and the fading light indicated that the Sun was starting to go down. Evening was setting in. She smiled a satisfied feline-type smile as she remember how they had spent a good part of the afternoon. There were more than a few sore muscles boo-hooing to her about the abuse they felt they had received during her and Kenshin's drawn out love making session. Mentally she told them all to shut-up. She did not regret a single moment, and a few sore muscles was a petty price to pay for the ecstasy she had felt in his arms.  
  
"You seem very relaxed, koishii." Kenshin's voice was a soft purr against Kaoru's neck. "Have I pleased you, my angel?" Another satisfied smile curved her beautiful lips, and she wrapped both arms around him. "I assume that means yes..?" There was a touch of humor in his voice at her unspoken response, but then it changed to uncertainty and concern. "Did I hurt you, Kaoru?" She felt surprised by the carefully spoken question.  
  
"Hurt me?"  
  
"I think I may have lost a bit more of my control that usual. I-I do not want to have my carelessness cause you harm." His lips pressed a tender kiss against her throat.  
  
"No Kenshin. You did not hurt me. No more than I hurt you I am sure." She could feel him smile against the skin of her shoulder. "I think we both lost most of our control, but..." She paused.  
  
"But..." he prodded. "But what?"  
  
"But there are some things I want to ask you. Can I?" She was being cautious. He did not like that and his eyes narrowed just a bit.  
  
"Of course you can." He raised up on his elbow and looked into her face intently. "You can ask me anything you wish."  
  
"All right." She bit her lip in trepidation. "You said something to me when we were... well, when you... " he smiled and one elegant brown eyebrow raised in tolerant humor. "Oh kuso. You know what I mean." A gentle laugh escaped him.  
  
"All right, yes I understand what you mean. But Kaoru...."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Your cursing again."  
  
"No I did not."  
  
"Yes, koishii you did."  
  
"I did?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Dammit."  
  
"Kaoru!" He burst into laughter and kissed her chin. "Whatever am I going to do with you?" She shrugged and screwed her face up into a look of 'Gee, I do not know', and he just laughed more. "All right, back to your question. You said I said something to you when we were..." He  
  
looked at her to see if he had the gist of her thought. She nodded. "What did I say?"  
  
"Well, you said... ummm... well... oh I can't do this. Never mind." She covered her eyes with her hand and shook her head. "I can't ask you this. Baka Kaoru." She whailed.  
  
Kenshin chuckled and nuzzled around her chin and her nose. "Yes you can, Kaoru. You can do anything you want. After all, you are 'Kaoru'." That drew several giggles from her and she peeked at him from beneath her hand.  
  
"You promise me you will not go all weird on me or anything?"  
  
"I promise."  
  
"You swear."  
  
"I swear."  
  
"I mean it Kenshin."  
  
"Good Lord Kaoru, what do you want me to do? I have already promised... twice." She eyed him intently and finally nodded her head.  
  
"OK, but if you make me feel stupid, I am beating the shit out of you."  
  
"Deal." Kenshin was not sure what he had gotten himself into, but it seemed very important to her, so he would do his best not to upset her. Besides, he was wracking his brain trying to remember what he had said to her that would get her going like this, and he could not think of a single thing. Women.  
  
"Here goes..." she took a deep breath and looked into his clear amethyst eyes. "You said that now you had held me you would not be able to have sex with another woman because there was no one else for you but me. You called me your Meito."  
  
"My Mate?" His voice was soft but held no traces of mockery or denial.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"What else did I tell you?" He lowered his eyes and his fingers started playing with a strand of her silken ebony hair.   
  
"Well, y-you said that I belonged to you." She was stammering slightly.  
  
"Did I? " he continued to play with her hair.  
  
"Yes." Kaoru was beginning to regret this conversation.  
  
"And did I tell you that you are the very core of desire in my soul?"  
  
"Sort of. You said something about desire and love." She was rapidly losing her nerve.  
  
"Umm-hum. And did I tell you that with in my heart, Kaoru, you are my Aisai? Did I tell you my heart believes you are my Beloved Wife?"  
  
"Yes." Her voice was barely audible, and it was getting hard to breath.  
  
"So, what are your questions, my little jou-chan?" Beautiful pale amber eyes rose to capture her half frightened half hopeful deep blue gaze. "What do you wish to know? Ask me what you will, and I will tell you whatever you wish to know. That I will." His voice was even and calm.  
  
The look in those pale golden eyes was making her mouth go dry, and making logical brain function almost impossible. She felt like a mouse being mesmerized by a cobra.   
  
"Kaoru?" His voice was low and filled with an emotion she could not identify. "I am waiting, my dear."  
  
"I-I- I guess I want to kn-know if you meant any of it, or..." she stumbled to a pause biting her lip in anxiety.  
  
"Or...." He coaxed her with his voice and his eyes.  
  
"Or... or if it was just the passion talking in the heat of the moment." The words were forced out in a rush before she lost her nerve to say them at all. She hung onto the core of her resolve and forced herself to maintain eye contact with him despite the thundering anxiety in her heart.  
  
"Did I mean any of it?" The words were almost more thought than voice they were spoken so quietly. "Or did I speak them in the heat of passion?" His free hand stole softly and tenderly to her pale face where he slowly traced the delicate lines of her eyelids and eyebrows. The expression on his face began to change though only slightly. The line of his mouth softened as did the plane of his forehead. Kaoru watched him unable to tear her eyes away from the subtle shifting of his handsome features.  
  
"Look at me, Kaoru. Look at me with the eyes of your heart not the eyes of your mind, and tell me what you see."  
  
"Kenshin, I... "  
  
"LOOK. AT. ME." He punctuated each word and looked deep into her eyes as if he were trying to see to her very soul, or... Or maybe he was trying to let her see to the core of his soul. "Tell me what you see."  
  
She was not sure she understood what he was getting at or what he wanted her to do. When she looked at him, she saw a kind, generous, wonderful man who had been through a great deal of pain in his life. She saw a man with scars on his heart and his soul. Scars that ran deep to the very center of his being and colored every thought and choice he made. She saw a man who had lived his life alone and in a near constant state of grief and loss because it seemed everyone he allowed himself to care about had died or cared nothing for him. Tears filled her eyes as she realized what she really saw when she looked at him.  
  
She saw a lonely man. She a man who was so afraid to share his heart that he had learned to keep everyone he met at distance so he would not learn to care for them. He had become a ruroni so he would never be in one place long enough to call it home or establish emotional ties. She saw a man who was terrified to love, to stop, or to allow himself to be loved because all those things had ever brought to him was pain and grief. The tears spilled over her lower lids and raced down her  
  
pale cheeks.   
  
When she finally spoke to him, her voice was strained but filled with entreaty. "I do not want you to be lonely anymore, Kenshin. I do not want you to be afraid of loving or being loved ever again. I want to make you happy and make all the worry and sadness in your heart disappear. I want to hear you laugh and watch you play with your children. I want you to know there is always a home and a warm bed for you to come back to wherever you go, and I want you to know I will  
  
always be waiting for you too." She watched his eyes close and saw him take a deep shuddering breath. "I want you to never doubt that I love you, and I will always and forever belong to you... if you want me too." A single tear slid town his face and dropped onto her bare shoulder. "My arms are always open to you, and I will be your sanctuary from the world. I will be your peace. All you have to do is trust me to love you that much. Do you? Kenshin? Do you trust me that much?"  
  
"Do you love me that much, Kaoru?" His voice was the tiniest whisper.  
  
"Yes, I love you that much. I always have. Didn't you know that? Can't you tell?" Teary amber eyes opened to lock gazes with her searching sapphires. "I always have... my Anata. My dearest Husband."  
  
A broken sound escaped him, and his arms were beneath and around her in an instant. A mouth hungry for her love and unconditional acceptance closed over hers, and they tasted the mingling of their tears on each others lips..  
  
"Will you, Kaoru?" He whispered against her mouth. "Will you be my Aisai? Will you marry me and grow old with me? Will you be my lover and have my children?" He rose up to look at her face. "Will you be my Wife, my beloved koishii?"  
  
More and more tears flowed and covered Kaoru's pale cheeks, but the most brilliant smile Kenshin had ever seen lit up her face. "Yes Kenshin. Yes, yes, yes." His mouth moved and captured hers again as a feeling of such happiness the likes of which he had never known burst open in his heart. There was also a notable sensation of something dark and heavy being lifted away from him, and he experienced a feeling of lightness such that he thought he could fly away.  
  
For the first time in his near 30 years of life, Himura Kenshin felt free, content, safe, and... he felt loved. He had finally found a place to truly call him home. Within the arms of a beautiful 19 year old girl with brilliant blue eyes and raven black hair he had found a place to belong and a person to lavish all of the love on that he had previously locked away in his heart. It would never again matter where he was or where he went, as long as she was beside him he would be home.  
  
Kamiya Kaoru was his home. Her strong loving arms were the only home he would ever need.  
  
At long last, the ruroni found a reason to never go wandering again. He felt roots growing out of the soles of his feet, and he was glad.  
  
*****************  
  
The next morning dawned blustery and cold in Tomo. A bitter wind blew in harshly from the north countries turning what dew there was to an icy frost. Everyone admitted they had never seen an August past that had come on this cold before. Not in the last 100 years was there even one  
  
recorded. Farmers were rushing to gather what they could of their crop ends that had not frozen so it could be laid in storage for the coming winter months. A great fear was building in the city and the  
  
surrounding towns and villages. If the beginning of Autumn was already growing this cold, how cold was this years Winter going to be? More and more prayers were being said every day.  
  
Minister Honia and his wife continued to sit their sad vigil within the Temple near their home. For nearly ten days they had sat on the smoothly polished wooden floors praying to Buddha for the safe return of their only daughter, Cleo who had disappeared from the sheltered gardens  
  
outside the family home. She was a bright but quiet child of 15 who excelled in reading, writing, and history. Her mother had asked her to go out into the rose garden and cut the few remaining flowers for her. When Cleo did not return after more than an hour, the servants were sent looking for her, but no trace of her had been found except a few droplets of blood on the stone steps leading out to the beach.  
  
Minister Honia had been beside himself with grief for this was his only daughter after having been blessed with five sons. He adored Cleo and had lavished ever drop of love on her he possessed. Their relationship was viewed as unusual and few of the Minister's associates understood his impassioned feelings for his daughter. Sons were what men wanted. A girl child was acceptable, but not to be fawned over or spoiled as he had done with his. But he was an old man so his behavior  
  
was overlooked.   
  
The Tama police had been searching for clues in Cleo's disappearance, but had yet to find a single one except the blood. The Minister and his wife were beginning to fear the worst as the days  
  
dragged by.  
  
So, on this cold blustery morning with the grey misty fogs slithering close to the ground, it should have come as no real surprise when one of the house maid ran into the Temple weeping and screaming hysterically.  
  
"Master! Oh Master!" She threw herself on the floor in front of the grieving parents her face a mask of terror and deep sorrow. "Oh dearest God in heaven.... Master, Master, Master...." and she broke off burying her face in her hands and sobbing uncontrollably.   
  
"What? What is it Lou-chan? What has happened?" Minister Honia placed a comforting hand on the sobbing girls head. "Tell me, child. What has happened."  
  
"Th-the jou-chan, Master." Her voice began breaking. "The jou-chan..."  
  
"Cleo...?" both parents gasped. "Something has happened to do with Cleo?"  
  
"Yessss." Her agony was clear. "We have found her."  
  
"Where? Where Lou-chan? Where is my daughter?" Minister Honia grabbed the sobbing girl by the shoulders and shook her until she met his gaze. "Where is Cleo?"  
  
"Oh Kami... She is in her bed." The girl collapsed as the Minister leapt to his feet and sprinted out of the Temple. His wife was directly behind him holding the hem of her kimono high so she would not trip.  
  
The burst into the house and flew up the stairway to the second floor. The fusuma to their daughters room was standing halfway open, and they rushed to it. Minister Honia threw it the rest of the way open nearly tearing the fragile fusuma from its place. Both parents stopped and stood frozen as they stared at the horror of what used to be their daughter.   
  
As tears filled his eyes and blinded him to the bloody mess that wore his daughters face, Minister Honia frantically grabbed his wife and pulled her face hard against his chest. He tried vainly to stop her from looking even though he knew it was already too late as her screams filled the air and ricocheted off every surface and bounced back to them.  
  
Their beautiful, sweet, timid Cleo was a butchers nightmare. Her young body had been hacked and slashed with such rage and savagery that there were layers of flesh pealed away revealing the muscle and bone beneath. The only part of her that had not been defiled in this  
  
horrible manner was her face. Thought it was badly bruised and swollen from many beatings, it was still possible for her parents to distinguish that is was indeed their daughter.  
  
There would be no comfort for this tragedy. No end to this grief. Their sweet innocent child had died within the agonies of Hell, and no one had saved her. All they could do was pray for her soul and their own.  
  
When news of the hideous murder reached the Police Force in Aziu, Thian and Ishida Miko looked at each other in horror. This was the daughter of the Minister who had opposed General Katsura's plan. It was too much of a coincidence for both of them.  
  
Ishida warily cast an anxious look over his shoulder. As long as he was with Thian, the Horde stayed at bay. As long as his brother was by his side, he was safe. But how long could Thian stay with him every minute of everyday? Ishida could feel his time running thin. Something had to happen to change this steady pace towards doom, but what?  
  
"Look, we have a message from one of our informers in Enshi. Looks like the General and Lady Katsura are taking a trip to Kyoto."  
  
"Kyoto?" Ishida was puzzled. "What is in Kyoto?"  
  
"Well," Thian pursed his lips in thought. "Let's see. It's almost the middle of August. What happens in August? Anything important. I mean, I do not know, do you?"  
  
Ishida started to think. Something was tickling the back of his mind. August... what was it about August? He stood up and started to pace. "August..." he said softly to himself. Then... "Dammit!! The Festival. It is that damn Festival. She is going to do something with the Festival."  
  
"Ok, you lost me. What Festival?"  
  
"Baka!" He smacked Thian in the back of the head. "The Autumn Moon Festival you idiot. It is the full moon equinox thing, but according to witch lore, it is also one of the most powerful magical nights of the year."  
  
"Oh. Let me guess. A great time for casting spells and performing rituals and stuff."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Ok. Now I am with you, but what would make it so special to her even if it is such a great night for doing stuff?"  
  
"Well, say you wanted to bring your best friend over from Okinawa, but it was in the middle of typhoon season."  
  
"Ok."  
  
"Say there was one day during the whole season that it did not rain and his boat could get through so you go get him."  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
"All right, now let's say that you found a magic boat that let the two of you go back and forth anytime you wanted because it had the ability to make a permanent safe path through the typhoons, and you never had to wait for a safe day again."  
  
"Holy shit!"  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"But how in the hell is she going to make a permanent door open between Hell and here?"  
  
"Well, the only way she can make a door open at all is through some sort of ritual, but the door only stays open for a little while. She must have found a way to make it stay open, and doing the ritual on the night of the Autumn Moon is the perfect time to do it because of all the natural magic power there is then."  
  
"We gotta stop this." Thian's face was serious and pale. "But whose going to believe us?"  
  
"I do not know, but we will find a way to make them believe us." His voice was thin and shaky. "Somehow, Thian. We have to find a way to make them believe us. We have to."  
  
"So, we are going to Kyoto?"  
  
"I guess we better don't you think?"  
  
"Yes. When should we leave?"  
  
"Now is as good of a time as any."  
  
"Ok. You are the boss after all."  
  
"Right, and cat shit omelets are my favorite breakfast food. Come on and lets get moving."  
  
"Cat shit omelets, huh. Hummm, never had one."  
  
"Will you shut the hell up and get moving."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Geez, you got no sense of humor any more." The two men walked out of the small office and closed the door. 


	10. The Devil Dance's in Kyoto

Glossary: Aman=lover, Aishiteru=I love you, Netsuai=love passionately,   
  
Saiai=beloved, Shicuchi=Soujirou's unique speed, Koi=carp, Hitomigokuu=human sacrifice victim, Hinokagusuchi=God of Fire, Iroona=whore, Busu=ugly woman, Ishii=child or kid, Shinai=fencing stick, Kinai=ninja dagger, Sakobatou=reverse blade sword, Koishii=dear or darling, Kuso=bullshit or shit   
  
  
  
Chapter Ten  
  
  
  
The Devil Dance's in Kyoto  
  
It had been nearly two weeks since Kaoru, Hiko, and Yahiko had arrived in Kyoto looking for Kenshin, and several interesting changes had taken place in that time.  
  
Hiko and Saitoh had become good friends if not excellent sparing partners both with words and swords. Where one was found there the other would be also, usually bent over a pile of documents lost in deep conversation completely ignoring the world around them. Both would become coldly angry and vicious insults about intelligence and parentage would fill the air followed by curt demands to know what the disturbance was all about. It was like dealing with two caged tigers.  
  
Captain Izukia was developing ulcers and losing his hair under the double stress. His nerves just could not take it. He had become jumpy as an ally cat with too many fleas.  
  
Yahiko had moved to the Aoiya permanently and was staying with Aoshi and Misao. Misao had reasoned that there was more room at the Aoiya than with Hiko or with Kenshin and Kaoru, so it would be a more logical idea for him to come and stay there for as long as they were all in Kyoto. Yahiko had been easy to convince since he was not very excited about spending very much time alone with Hiko, and he really did not want to hang around Kenshin and Kaoru the way they were acting these days especially since they had announced their engagement, so he had eagerly moved into one of the empty rooms.  
  
Ever since becoming a 'guest' at the Aoiya, Yahiko had been a constant shadow of adopted brother's. He followed him everywhere he went. From the market, to the temple, to Kenshin's rooms, and back to the Aoiya. He was continually asking Soujirou questions about anything and everything he could think of. What it was like to work for Shishio, how he learned to exceed god-like speed with the Shicuchi; if he thought he would ever pick up his sword again, and if he did, would he teach Yahiko some techniques of the Tenbu no Sai Niyour ken? Soujirou seemed to have the patience of a monk because he answered Yahiko's questions tirelessly without ever getting irritated. In fact, he seemed to actually enjoy having the rambunctious 12 year old around. Hence, Kenshin's two adopted sons started to become a usual sight together around the Aoiya and at the market place.  
  
************  
  
"Kenshin..." Kaoru was trying to sound stern but failing miserably. "We have to go to the market for tofu and peas this morning." She tried to wriggle away from his nuzzling nose and teasing fingers where they kept trying to sneak into the collar of her kimono just over her sensitive nape. "Stop it." Hunching her shoulders, she successfully avoided him with a breathless laugh. "If we do not hurry, all the fresh vegetables will be gone." Her eyes were beseeching, but she could see by the wicked smile on his handsome face, and the heated gleam in his deep violet eyes they would not be making it to market that particular time of the morning. "Kenshin..... "  
  
"Kaoru...?" A perfect brown eyebrow arched with mock curiosity at her weak attempt to rationalize her way out of what he was obviously intending to do to her. "Is there something I can do for you, Koishii? You want to say something? Hmmmm.... " He was advancing on her position with meaningful steps, hands clasp nonchalantly behind his back and a devilish half smile curving his lips. As he approached within arms reach of her she feinted to one side then crouched and dashed to the other in a swift and calculated movement that caught him off guard. He leapt after her with lightening reflexes but missed her as she screeched and dove the opposite direction. Despite her efforts her victory was short lived, and he caught her in short order grabbing her around the waist with his right arm and, bending over, tossed her over his shoulder and picked her up.  
  
"Kenshin!" Kaoru screamed in hysterical delight. "Put me down right now, you rotten ruroni! Put me down!" She was laughing and pounding her fists on his now healthier and more muscular back and shoulders. "Put me down, dammit!"  
  
"As you wish, my Aman. You know how I hate doing anything that displeases you." His voice was filled with acute teasing humor and laughter.  
  
THWUMP!! Kaoru landed flat on her butt and fell back on her elbows. "Ewwoooww ...!" She squawked as she was unceremoniously dumped on the futon. Kenshin looked at her with mock innocence.  
  
"What is it, Koishii? You did tell me to put you down."  
  
"You rat!!" She lunged at him with the intent of throttling him soundly, but only got as far as sitting up before he laughingly pinned her back down with the weight of his upper body.  
  
"Temper, temper... I see we still need to work on that control of yours don't we." Her response was to glare at him and swing her fist at the side of his head. "Whoa!" He deftly caught the sucker punch before it made contact, and pinned both of her hands over her head with one of his hands. "Definitely." Violet eyes caressed her flushed face then lowered a fraction and watched her breasts heaving against him with her angry breaths. It did not matter how many times he looked at her, she always took his breath away with her wild untamed beauty. He met her dangerously glittering blue diamonds and could think of nothing else but...  
  
Slowly Kenshin's head dipped downwards and his lips and tongue traced a feathery pathway of desire along the curve of Kaoru's delicate jaw line until he reached the hollow of her throat. When he reached that warm cavern within the curve of her neck and shoulder, he began pressing moist passionate kisses along the sensitive flesh, and his teeth nipped and nibbled little trails of ice and fire beneath the curtain of her hair over her nape sending waves of uncontrolled shivers through her body.   
  
Her breath quickened and her heart thundered wildly in her chest as her flesh and emotions responded to him. As he carefully released her hands, they moved to entwine themselves into the thickness of his red hair pulling him more tightly against her. She heard a ragged breath of passion and hunger escape him when she buried her face against his neck, and slid one hand over his shoulders in shuddering need.  
  
Their mouths met in a raging hot wet kiss of lips and tongues that forced moans and harsh breathing from both of them as the hunger between them exploded into a wild thing that consumed the world. His hands were underneath her back loosening her obi and pulling it off so he could open the front of her kimono and expose the flesh he loved so much. As his hands slid beneath her shoulders and lifted her up to him, the mouth that had so hungrily ravished her lips, released them and burned a trail of blazing passion down the front of her throat and along her delicate collar bones until it became lost in the creamy soft mounds of her full rounded breasts.  
  
"Oooohhhh...... " Kaoru's neck and back arched upward into Kenshin's embrace in attempt to bring herself closer to his lips. Her hands were desperately pulling at his gi trying to get at the silkiness of his flesh, but unable to do so. Finally Kenshin rose up for a few seconds and shed the article of clothing giving her free access to touch his chest, back, and shoulders. A satisfied sigh passed through her lips as she slipped her arms underneath his and let her hands slid with sensuous female pleasure along the smooth heated skin of his back and sides. He felt so wonderful to her. So warm, so strong, so... Kenshin. "I love you," she said in a voice breathless with passion and need. "I love you so much."  
  
"Beautiful Kaoru... " He rasped against the hollow of her throat as his hands stole between them and removed the rest of their clothing. "My beautiful aman. Aishiteru Netsuai Saiai. My Beloved, my beautiful Kaoru... I will love you always." Then he rose up onto his elbows and knees, and purposefully lowered himself between her thighs and joined their bodies together in that final heated embrace that would take them beyond the reaches of their emotional love bond and into the golden world of pleasure and fulfillment.   
  
The market could wait for them. It was not going anywhere.  
  
**************  
  
The carriage stopped. It was carefully hidden in the dark shadows of the empty alley. A dark man leapt down from the drivers' bench and opened the passenger door. He offered his hand in a gentlemanly fashion to assist the female occupant as she stepped out onto the road. The remaining man removed himself and took the drivers seat grasping the reins. He could hear the man and woman exchanging conversation, but chose not to listen very closely. The less you knew in this business the longer you stayed alive.  
  
"Don't tell me what I want, you imbecile!" Lady Elsbeth Katsura screamed at her cringing subordinate who was kneeling on the ground in front of her. "I told you exactly what I wanted, and it is not for you to question my reasons!" A delicate hand gloved in fine leather lashed out and struck him viciously across the face leaving an angry red welt over his cheekbone. "Now do what I told you too, or it will be you under my blade during the next moon ceremony. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" Her beautiful face was contorted with rage, and her large gray-green eyes flashed with dangerous white and red flames as her rage built to a dangerous level.  
  
"Y-yes, My Lady. Yes, it will be done." The large black haired, black-eyed man bowed his head until it touched the ground at her dainty feet. "A young, spirited boy just entering manhood. I will find him, My Lady. I will search the entire city of Kyoto until I find the perfect one."  
  
Her hand lashed out and grabbed a handful of his long hair and yanked his head up hard so that his eyes met hers. "See that you do, Raul. He must be fierce. Fierce and Powerful as a Tiger. And strong of heart." Her face took on a dreamy look and she gazed up into the lightening morning sky where the stars were fading, and stared into the distance thoughtfully. "I want him to have the Heart of a Lion, the Cunning of a Wolf, and the Souring Spirit of an Eagle." The unnatural strength of her grip nearly tore the hair from the man's head. "He must last a long time, Raul. A very long time."   
  
"Yes, My Lady." His face was creased with pain and fear. "I will find him. I swear on the Blood of the Innocent, I will find him."  
  
"Of course you will, Raul." Wicked, evil laughter floated on the evening air like the sound of bats wings brushing against stone walls deep inside an old crypt. "Of course you will."  
  
Black eyes filled with fear as he watched the beautiful face shift and shimmer like water in a pond. Quickly he turned and disappeared into the shadows of the fading night. This was the most difficult prey she had ever sent him after. This was no mewling baby or sobbing child. This was a young boy between the ages of 10-15, and he would not be as easily subdued as the others. He might very well make a raucous and required physical force to subdue. He wrinkled his brow in consternation; the Lady would not like it if her prey were damaged in any way. She liked them fresh and perfect, and without a single blemish or bruise.  
  
His predecessor had damaged one child and paid for that mistake with his life. It was not so much that he was killed for his mistake that was to be expected. No, it was HOW he was killed that bothered Raul the most. He had been found hanging upside down by his left foot. His old pecker had been cut clean off and stuffed in his mouth, and he had been left to bleed to death from that wound. It had been hard to tell what had killed him. Bleeding to death, or choking on his own vomit. Either way, it was no way for a decent villain to die. Raul had made a promise to himself when they threw old Dodie to the sharks that he was not going to end up like that. No matter what he had to do.  
  
Raul scoured his brain trying to think where would be the best place to find a boy like the Lady wanted. A place where he could grab a kid like that and not cause a lot of commotion or attract a lot of attention.  
  
The Market Place. That would be a good place to start. It was only a few blocks away, so Raul found a nice quiet corner in a vacant alley to spend the rest of the night, and curled up in his wool coat and went to sleep. He would start watching boys today, and looking for frequent visitors with regular habits. Then he would choose one with the right personality traits the Lady wanted, and during one of his regular trips, the boy just would not go back home. He should have a suitable boy within the week. That was barely enough time, but it was still enough time.  
  
Raul smiled. It was a good plan. A simple plan. Those were the best kind.   
  
*******************  
  
  
  
"Hey, look at that! Have you ever seen anything like that before??" Yahiko was running ahead of Soujirou and pointing at a vendor's stand that was selling western-American cooking and eating utensils. "WHAT are these?" His light brown eyes were full of excitement and humor. "They look like something Kaoru would use to clean the Koi pool, or dig in the vegetables with."  
  
Soujirou chuckled. "I am sorry, Little brother, but I do not think that is what these are." He cast an inquiring glance at Misao who had joined them on their daily jaunt to the Market. "What do you think, Misao? What are these? Little brother thinks they are cleaning tools."  
  
"That's because he's stupid."  
  
"Hey, who you calling stupid, Busu!"  
  
"Hey, who you calling ugly you grungy brat!!"  
  
"Alright, alright..." Soujirou put a restraining hand on each of their shoulders as the two of them looked at if they might come to blows. "You two really need to learn to get a grip on your emotions." Then a strange look passed over his boyish face, and he started to laugh.   
  
Misao and Yahiko looked at him in worried confusion. "Sou-san? Are you alright?"  
  
"Yes." He looked at Misao with bright eyes. "It just struck me ironic that I told the two of you to get a grip on your emotions when I'm trying so hard to loosen the grip I have on mine. I found it... funny."  
  
Misao and Yahiko exchanged a humorous look, and then they both started to laugh as they hugged the other man. "Sou-san, you are so strange, but we love you anyway." Misao laughed as she kissed his cheek. "I hope you don't change too much when you figure out your emotions. I like you like this."  
  
Soujirou blushed and briefly met her blue eyes. "I think I will always be like this to some point, Misao. This has been my personality for far too long for me to change it entirely, so I do not think you will have to worry over much on that account."  
  
She laughed again and took his hand in hers. "Good. Come on. Let's go look for some fresh fruit. I think that sounds good for lunch, don't you?" Her enthusiasm drug the blushing Soujirou behind her, and Yahiko followed close behind muttering under his breath about stupid girls and mushy crap.  
  
None of them noticed the pair of black eyes peering out of the dusty shadows watching their interactions with each other. Nor did they observe the swarthy skinned man with greasy black hair that carefully kept pace with them during the rest of their visit to the Market.   
  
Raul nodded with satisfaction. He liked this dark haired brat carrying the wooden Shinai who was walking with the girly-man and the ninja girl. He was the most promising boy he had seen in the last four days. When he had turned his temper on the girl, the power of his ki had been unmistakable. Even in those few short moments, and in such a small non-lethal dose the energy burst had been stinging and sharp as a mongoose bite. He wanted to see the boy with it fully unleashed. He wanted to see the power of his fury and the strength of his will.  
  
"Tomorrow, little one." He said quietly to the retreating figure of the young swordsman. "Tomorrow we shall see what you are." And he walked away into the rising dust on the road and disappeared.  
  
***************  
  
The sun rose in a fiery display of brilliant reds, oranges, and blazing gold's as it climbed over the tops of the mountains and poured it's light down onto the cold earth offering it it's first taste of warmth to begin the day.   
  
Kenshin sat very still and considered the burning horizon with a serious face and narrowed amber eyes.  
  
"It is beautiful, isn't it? I do not know when I have ever seen such a sunrise, Kenshin." Kaoru sat down next to him handing him a hot cup of tea. He had opened the window cover when he noticed the glowing red color gleaming through the slats. "It looks like a sea of burning flame. It is glorious." She laid her head on his shoulder and drank her own tea as she looked out the window with him.  
  
Kenshin remained stone still. He did not even taste his tea. His eyes just kept looking at the spectacle and examining it from every angle. This was all wrong and he could feel it. This should not be here.   
  
"Kenshin?" Kaoru rose up off his shoulder and looked at his serious profile with concern. "What is it?"  
  
"The sunrise."  
  
She looked out the window puzzled. "The sunrise?"  
  
"Yes, It is wrong, Kaoru. It is all wrong. It should not be here. That it should not."  
  
"Should not be here.... ? Kenshin, what do you mean by that? How can a sunrise be wrong?"  
  
"Look at it, Kaoru." His eyes turned and locked gazes with hers. "You said it yourself. You have never seen it so red before. It looks like a lake of burning fire."  
  
She stared into his golden eyes as her concern mounted. "Kenshin, you're starting to frighten me."  
  
"I am sorry, but perhaps you should be frightened. Perhaps we should all be frightened." He turned back to the window his eyes unwavering. His face unflinching. "Do you know what we are looking at, Kaoru? Do you know what this is?" His hand lifted and swept across the flaming horizon. She shook her head in mute denial, and instinctively moved closer to him as a premonition of impending doom settled in her heart.  
  
"We are looking at "Hinokagutsuchi's Fire", Kaoru."  
  
"What? 'Hinokagutsuchi's Fire'? I've never heard of that before. What does it mean?"  
  
"Evil has come to Kyoto, Kaoru. The God of Fire hunts the streets of Kyoto for the blood of the innocents." He drew a deep steadying breath. "And The Devil is coming to dance in it." Kaoru gripped his arm tight and looked at the roaring flames on the horizon seeing them for what they were. "The Devil is coming to Kyoto, Kaoru. He is coming to celebrate the Autumn Moon Festival on the full moon, and he is sailing in across the lake of blood and fire of Hinokagusuchi."  
  
"How... what... I... " Kaoru felt fear congealing in her heart.  
  
"Someone is laying the way and making preparations for His coming even as we speak. Steps are being taken to set forth into motion all of the things that need to happen in order for Him to be able to enter this world from his own." His voice dropped to a low hissing growl of fury. "And it appears the only thing left to procure is the Hitomigokuu that will open the door."  
  
"Sacrifice??" Kaoru's eyes were so wide with shock they looked as if they may burst from their sockets. "A human sacrifice? Dear God, Kenshin. What is going on here?? What is happening?" Her hands cupped his face and turned it so she could look into his amber eyes. "Is this something to do with what is happening in the mountains? Hiko kept mentioning 'innocents' dying, and witches, and... is this the same thing?"  
  
Kenshin bowed his head slightly and kissed one of her hands. "I have often said you were far to intelligent for a woman, Koishii. I see that I am still right in that observation."  
  
"Then you do think it is all connected. Don't you?"  
  
"I know it is." He was flatly matter of fact as he returned his gaze to the open window.  
  
"How can you be that sure?"  
  
"I have felt these feelings before. This horrible sense of wrongness has haunted me through my dreams since before I came back from the mountains. They are old, but familiar companions that I have spent much time with." A muscle began twitching in his jaw. "They are the source of my fears. That they are."  
  
"What can we do?" Her whisper was frightened and urgent.  
  
"All we can do at this moment is wait. We can wait for a sign or a signal to show us where to go, what to look for, and what to do." Kaoru watched as the color of the raging flames was being reflected within the deep golden of Kenshin's amber eyes. "Blood on the Sun." She whispered in awe. A profound sense of humility filled her as she gazed at the face of the man she loved. The line of his jaw was sharp and determined. His lips were slightly thinned into a line of resolution that gave his usually gentle face a stony angry look.   
  
There was a coldness about him Kaoru had never felt before. A coldness that was detaching him from the world, from his feelings, and possibly from her. This was Himura Kenshin the Swordsman, the warrior, the protector. He was becoming focused on one thing. Defeating what had defeated him. The strength of his mending ki was pulsing around them, and Kaoru knew it was almost time. Soon he would be ready to leave with Saitoh and Hiko.   
  
Soon she would watch him take up his sakobatou and walk out the door to face whatever it was that waited for him out there. Her troubled eyes searched his face, and then looked with keen apprehension at the burning sky. It was out there in the fire and blood in the sky, and it was waiting for him. "How long will I have to wait before you leave, Kenshin?" She asked him quietly as her head fell to his shoulder.  
  
"I do not know, Koishii. Perhaps Kami-sama will intervene and I will not have to leave at all."  
  
"Do you really believe that could happen?"  
  
"No." She hid her face against the faded pink magenta of his gi and shuddered. Kenshin kept watching the sky as the flames leapt and danced in the golden light of the rising Sun. Blood ran across the horizon in great pools and rivers bleeding in and out and between the roaring infernos. Death was coming to Kyoto. Blood would spill in the streets, and fall like red rain from the rooftops. People were going to die screaming in pain as the agonies of Hell were unleashed upon the innocent and unsuspecting. Heads on pikes would line the country roads, and great bonfires filled with the corpses of the conquered would burn for days filling the skies with dense black smoke. And the children would die.  
  
The children would die by the hundreds and the thousands as his Iroona sacrificed them one by one to the dark King of Hell.   
  
Kenshin closed his eyes in sorrow as his mind remembered just who that concubine was. Her remarkably beautiful face came easily to him. Long glorious chestnut hair that reached well past her waist. Oh, how he remembered that hair, and hours and hours of wrapping himself in its  
  
silken softness as he held the beauty of her in his arms while they made love. A shuddering sigh of unwanted grief escaped him and his head drooped low. His mind was in an agony of its own. 'Why,' it cried. 'Why did it have to be you?? Why you?' His eyes squeezed shut tightly as he  
  
fought the urge to scream the words. 'Elsbeth... What have you done, kirei? What have you done?'  
  
******************  
  
Raul had waited for several hours on the outskirts of the Market Place watching to see if the three young people he had spotted the day before would return. It was nearing midmorning when his efforts were rewarded. A lecherous smile showed several missing teeth in a mouth full of rotting ones. His eyes intently followed the trio as they started to make their rounds between food and supply vendors. The young boy and the ninja girl were arguing with each other again, so Raul felt it would not be too difficult to illicit the confrontation he needed to judge the boys powers. He silently kept to the outer shadows and followed the friends waiting for just the right moment.  
  
  
  
"I told you I saw it, you deranged hyena." Yahiko was snapping at Misao. "It woke me up this morning it was so bright. I thought the Aoiya was on fire." He waved his hands in the air for emphasis. "It looked like the whole sky was burning up. Did you see it, Seta-san?" His big light brown eyes looked inquisitively at his adopted brother. "It was really cool. I've never seen a sunrise like it before."  
  
"Yes, Little brother. I saw it." Soujirou's face did not reflect the enthusiasm of his young companions. The flaming bloody sky had left him feeling uncomfortable and unsure of what to think. The emotions it brought out within him were irrational. He felt uneasy, wary as if he were being hunted, and he felt... afraid. He wanted to talk to Himura-otan about this odd phenomenon because it had left his ki so unsettled and confused.  
  
"What did you think, Sou-san? It was really beautiful, wasn't it? It looked like... "  
  
"I already told him what it looked like, Busu. He doesn't need a dumb girl like you to say it all over again. He's not deaf or stupid." Yahiko deftly ducked beneath Misao's swinging fists. "Ha, you missed, Weasel Girl." TTHHWUMP!! She caught him on the side of the head on the back swing and he stumbled drunkenly for a few feet.  
  
"Ha, now who's dumb you loud mouthed isshi?" Wicked high-pitched laughter pricked the young swordsman's pride, and he charged Misao.  
  
"Don't call me a kid!!" He came at her his Shinai pulled at the ready to smack her into respectful submission. "I am not a little kid anymore!!" As he swung a carefully aimed attack slash at her, his Shinai was easily captured in the powerful grip of Seta Soujirou and yanked out of his hands.  
  
"Soujirou??!" he roared in outrage. "What did you do that for? I almost had her that time."  
  
"That is precisely why I did it, Little brother." Blue eyes danced with tolerant amusement. "I am trying to save you a sound rousting in front of the entire Market."  
  
"Sa.. Save me??" Incredulity filled the angry young voice.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"From what? A stupid Weasel Girl?"  
  
"No, from me when I would have to intervene and stop the fight between the two of you. I could be forced to hurt you in order to get you to relinquish a possible advantage over Misao, and I really do not want to do that."  
  
Yahiko considered this information for a few moments then looked his older adopted brother in the eye. "I... ahh, maybe you're right." He looked down a bit shame faced. "But, why do you want to protect her?" The emphasis on 'her' was so noticeable Soujirou had to smile.  
  
"Because she is my friend and part of my family."  
  
"But aren't I your friend and family too?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Ok, I don't understand then. Why save her and possibly hurt me in the process?"  
  
"You misunderstand my brother," Soujirou placed an affectionate hand on Yahiko's shoulder as he met the younger mans confused sherry colored gaze. "I would, in effect, be saving you both from each other, and using the least amount of force possible."  
  
"Oh." Duh. Yahiko suddenly felt very stupid.  
  
"Baka-deshi." Misao's playfully sarcastic tone reached Yahiko's embarrassed ears, and he was immediately angry again. Grabbing his Shinai from Soujirou's surprised hands, he ran after the giggling girl with the purpose of beating her soundly.  
  
Soujirou sighed and shook his head as a resigned smile crossed his boyish features. Himura-otan was right. Some things would never change.  
  
He was glad. Some things should never change.  
  
Raul's eyes glittered like the twin obsidian orbs of an indigo snake as it stalked an unsuspecting mouse. It was time to spring the trap and start pulling the boy into the squeezing coils of his destiny. He carefully drew his short sword and stepped from the shadows into the bright morning sunlight. This would be a grand display. He was sure of it.  
  
A dark swarthy man dressed in the black garb of a desert nomad emerged from behind the shadows of several thin elm trees. His appearance was so sudden and so startling that several women screamed grabbing their children to ran away in fright.   
  
Yahiko, Misao, and Soujirou turned around abruptly at the sound of the commotion, and gasped at the sight of the huge strangely dressed man holding a dangerous looking short-blade sword. He was standing in the middle of the street, dust clinging to the dense black material of his clothing.   
  
"Kami... " Misao's voice was hoarse with her undisguised fear and wonderment. He looked like an immovable black mountain, and it looked like his was moving straight for... THEM! "SOU-SAN??!!"  
  
"I see him, Misao. Get behind me. You too, Yahiko. Get behind me until we find out what this man's intentions are. We do not want a conflict here with so many innocent people around us who could become involved. We must stay calm." Soujirou's voice was it's customary bright and lilting manner, but there was also a strong undertone of authority and concern.  
  
"I am not an isshi, Soujirou." Yahiko stormed as he tried to take a defensive stance beside the older man. "I can fight. I've done it before." His voice was a little shaky from the strange emotions he was feeling since hearing Soujirou call him by his given name instead of his pet name. "I won't let you fight alone... Soujirou?"  
  
"I know you can fight, young one. I remember, but this is not the Aoiya, and we do not have many comrades and weapons to help us. There are only you, Misao, and I; your Shinai, and her kunai. I no longer carry my sword." He purposely shifted Yahiko behind him. "And this is a very large man with a practiced blade. I will not allow you to put yourself in danger, my brother, simply to appease your pride. Now, do as I say. Stay behind me."  
  
As his body crouched low into an attack stance of the battou-jusu, Soujirou felt a surge of protective emotions rush through his body even as the adrenaline pumped into his muscles. Misao and Yahiko both gasped in astonished wonder as they felt the sudden rise of power in their friends' ki.   
  
Yahiko was taken aback. This was not like Kenshin's ki, which was hot and scorching like the inside of a volcano. This was more like the feeling of being caught in the ferocity of a typhoon with the sensation of the powerful winds pulling and tearing at every living thing trying to rip them from the face of the earth. He could almost hear the roaring of the great upright violently twisting funnel winds as they tore a pathway across land and water conquering every obstacle in their path.  
  
Soujirou was becoming the essence of a living-breathing storm of furious proportions, and Yahiko discovered a deepened feeling of respect and honor for his adopted brother than he had previously known. This was the ki of an incredible warrior, and Yahiko felt insignificant next to it.  
  
Misao had drawn her kunai and knelt in a spring-ready crouch behind Soujirou. She could feel his ki as well, but rather than be overwhelmed by it like Yahiko was, she pushed herself into it and became part of it letting it enhance her natural strengths and steady her panicked emotions. 'Whatever comes, Sou-san,' she thought. 'We will face it together.'  
  
Soujirou remained unmoving in the face of the slowly advancing man in black. All of his senses were attuned to the fact that the man was indeed intent upon engaging them in some sort of altercation although Soujirou could not guess why. This was the first time in over a year he wished he had a sword in his hand. He was afraid if he used the Shicuchi to out maneuver the man, he may be putting his young companions in danger by leaving them unprotected, but he needed to find a way to either obtain a weapon of his own or disarm the man. Unfortunately he was not given the chance to do either. The man in black suddenly lunged at the trio with remarkable unearthly speed. His short-blade held low and to the side.  
  
Soujirou tried to counter by throwing Yahiko and Misao sharply to the right of the man's attack while launching himself high over the mans head to the left. The man in black let loose a guttural battle cry and swung his blade violently upward over his left shoulder trying to catch a piece of the allusive man, but found nothing but air.  
  
Soujirou landed deftly on his hands and one knee, sharply casting a look at the man in black watching as he came to a thundering halt in a cloud of powdery dust. Another look assured him that he had thrown Misao and Yahiko well out of harms way. He slowly climbed to his feet and faced the massive man without any sign of fear or intimidation.  
  
"What do you want with us?" he asked in a loud voice that carried clearly across the distance. "We do not know you. You are a stranger to us. I would know why do you attack us unprovoked?"  
  
The dark man's swarthy face split into a disgusting smile of broken and missing yellow teeth, and his harsh laughter filled the air around him. "You are not in the position to ask questions, girly-man." His voice was thick with an accent Soujirou had heard before but could not quite place at the moment. "I suggest you find a way to defend yourself little pretty-boy, before I make you into sushi and swallow you for my supper." More foul laughter erupted through out the stunned Market square as the man in black shifted his footing and prepared for another attack upon the unarmed Soujirou. "Tell me Girly-man. Who are the little ones you so selflessly sacrifice yourself for? Is the pretty little girl your whore, or is it the other way around?" He guffawed raucously at the look of embarrassed fury that colored Misao's face. "Her red face gives her away. She is your whore. Ha ha ha. And you with such a pretty face." When Soujirou did not respond or react to his blatant insults, ink black eyes narrowed lasciviously as they bore hard into his constantly amused face.   
  
"Why do you smile so much, girly-man? You think I am so funny, ehh?" Raul was misunderstanding the expression on Soujirou's face as one of mocking him, and he became angry. "How dare you mock me, you filthy little slut-boy." Things were not going quite as he had planned. This silent smiling man in front of him was causing too many problems. It was time to get rid of him. "I have grown tired of our association, Girly-man. You are beginning to bore me. Perhaps your little-boy companion over there will offer a more stimulating... engagement."  
  
Soujirou's eyes narrowed, the only indication that he was affected by the suggestive words.  
  
"You see," the man's voice was low and held a slimy evil quality to it. "I like little boys. I like them very much, and, even though you look like a boy in many ways, you are not, are you?" His mouth curved dangerously. "And although you have proven you have some fighting skills, you remain pathetically unarmed. You are a pitiful excuse for a man." Slashing his short sword through the air in a vicious display of prowess and skill, the man in black spat on the ground and then sneered in Soujirou's face. " In fact, I would consider it a moral service to society to remove you from existence. You are an insult to all men, and their man-hoods with your pretty face and girly voice." An evil chuckle rumbled in his throat. "I wonder, does a girly-man like you even have a manhood? Lets us find out, shall we." And he sprang forward at Soujirou feinting to the upper left, even as he dropped his sword to the lower left crossing it over and up searching out the vulnerable hamstring on the back of his opponents leg.   
  
The steely blue-gray eyes of the Tenken watched every movement of the man in black as he charged, and he saw the feigned movement with the sword held low. Springing to the left with the action of the blade, Soujirou spun around behind the larger man avoiding the blow and allowing himself to land a significant strike to the base of the man's skull with the sharp point of his elbow before dropping deftly to the ground. He leapt out of reach as soon as he landed, but turned in the air abruptly and smashed the flat of his foot squarely into the swarthy features hearing the fragile bones of his attackers nose break beneath the force.  
  
The man in black roared with pain and furious frustration as he continued to miss his smaller more agile opponent while Soujirou, in turn, rained blow after blow upon his antagonists' vulnerable unprotected head and neck.  
  
Setting off to the side, protected by a vendors stall, Misao and Yahiko watched in horror as Soujirou fought the man in black with nothing more than his fists, feet, cunning, and speed. The larger man was bleeding from his broken nose and a split lip as well as numerous small cuts around his chin and jaw. Soujirou had yet to receive a single injury in the fray.  
  
"We have to get him out of there, Misao." Yahiko's voice was filled with terrified urgency. "If we don't, that guy is eventually going to get to him and start hacking him to pieces."  
  
"I know." Was her horrified response. "But what do we do? How do we get him out without getting ourselves killed in the process? Sou-san would skin us both alive if we got hurt trying to save him."  
  
"I don't give a shit about that, Misao. He's my brother and I have to help him no matter what happens to me. I don't care!" And jumping from his hiding place, he drew his Shinai and fiercely ran into the battle his eyes gleaming blood red and his voice ringing out his battle cry.  
  
"Yahiko!!" Misao screamed after him as he raised his Shinai and attacked the man in black just as he was launching himself at Soujirou again.   
  
"Yahiko!?" It was Soujirou's voice screaming his name. "Get out of here!!!" But Yahiko was not listening to anyone anymore. His heart and soul were filled with the pulsating power of his need to protect and save. The wooden Shinai crashed down with a ferocious amount of force across the large man's back and he grunted in pain and surprise as he was thrown off balance and sent staggering to one knee. Struggling to his feet, he violently swung his short sword in the direction of the attack only to find himself the victim of another deadly blow that caught him in the soft muscle plexus between his neck and shoulder. He fell to his knees beneath the impact as pain lanced through his chest and upper body. The deadly short sword dropped to the ground as his right arm and hand turned numb and useless. He was trying to grasp the hilt of the sword with his clumsy left hand when the third blow came. It crashed down on his other shoulder with the same incredible crushing force, and as the white lights of pain induced unconsciousness exploded before his eyes, he crumpled to the ground. He never saw the Shinai being lifted high over his head for the final blow.  
  
"Yahiko, stop, stop...!" Soujirou rushed to the younger man and grabbed his wrists halting what would have been the fourth blow. The deathblow. "He is down. He is beaten, my brother." Soujiro was trembling. He had never felt a ki like Yahiko's before. And the wild look that had appeared in his eyes, as they turned red as fresh blood, had sent shivers of fear up his spine. The boy sank to his knees dropping his shinai and burying his face in Soujirou's light blue gi.  
  
Frightened blue-gray eyes met Misao's concerned ones as she ran up to the two crouched men. "Is.. Is he all right?" Her voice was a shaky whisper of confusion. "Sou-san?" She touched Soujirou's arm in alarmed astonishment. "Did you see his eyes?" She was frightened too. "Did you see them?"  
  
Soujirou leaned over the shaking body of the boy he called brother, and held him tightly against his chest. His eyes were clouded with confusion when he met Misao's gaze again. "Yes, Misao. I saw them, but I do not understand what I saw. I do not understand any of what I have just seen." He shook his head. "It was not a reasonable engagement. The man in black should have out matched Yahiko. Even though he is an exceptional fighter for his age, the skill of the man in black was exceptional, and a young boy with only a shinai should not have been able to over power him even with a surprise attack." Bewilderment colored his quiet voice. " Yahiko attacked him like a lion attacks its prey. He went for the most obvious vulnerable spot on a target of that size. His back, then the plexus between his neck and shoulder on both sides, which would numb both of his, arms and stun him to his knees. That left the man in black a completely helpless target for the final death blow."  
  
Misao looked at Soujirou with stunned disbelief. "You mean he... he was going... he was... "  
  
Soujirou nodded quietly. "It was in his heart, Misao. He was prepared to kill the man in black to save my life, and I believe he would have followed the attack sequence to its final completion if I had not stopped him."  
  
"Kami-sama... Yahiko?" She touched the soft black hair on the boy's temple. "I never thought.... " Her eyes were wide with awe.   
  
"There is a wildness about him, Misao. A wildness in his ki that made him strong. It made him stronger and more powerful than the man in black. More powerful than me I think. And maybe..." He met her eyes again. "Maybe even more powerful than Himura-Otou."  
  
"More powerful than Himura?" She shook her head in denial.  
  
"Yes. His ki was so strong, it pushed me away and kept me away until the adversary was subdued and no longer considered a threat, but a dead enemy."  
  
"Kept you away?"  
  
He nodded. "It was like I had been shoved aside by a huge hand, and then held back by that hand. I was unable to move, Misao. I could not move at all. Yahiko was keeping me out of harms way while he destroyed the enemy."  
  
Misao was taken aback and found herself speechless. Yahiko? An unnaturally powerful ki? More powerful than Sou-san and Himura? Would he be more powerful that Aoshi-sama? She looked thoughtfully at the form of the young man where he sat held tightly against his adopted brothers chest. A rush of gooseflesh suddenly ran across her arms and down her back. It was almost too big of a concept to digest.   
  
WHAMMP!! THWWUUMMP!!! CLLONNK!!   
  
Soujirou and Misao fell over into the dust of the road unconscious as the man in black shoved their heads together several times knocking them out. Yahiko turned a stunned and frightened face upwards and met the inky black pits of the swarthy mans eyes. He had time to gasp once before the man struck him soundly on the crown of his head with the hilt of his sword.  
  
Raul scooped the black haired boy up into his arms and looked around. Since the fighting had stopped, people had gone back to their usual activities as if nothing had happened. So no one took notice of the man in black when he disappeared into the dusty dank shadows of the fish market carrying an unconscious boy in his arms. Neither did anyone really notice the two people lying in the middle of the street. This was the Market place. Everything happened here, and no one was ever really surprised by any of it.  
  
******************  
  
"Slow down. You aren't making any sense, Misao." Aoshi took a deep breath and solemnly regarded the tearful young girl setting in front of him. "Why don't you let Seta-san tell me what happened. I think he can relay the information much more rationally than a hysterical girl. Now be quiet and do try to stop crying." His voice had its usual flat toneless quality, but his eyes were slightly gentler than was common to him. "It does not suit you." Then he turned to face an obviously distraught Soujirou. "Tell me what happened, Seta-san."  
  
With his head bowed in shame and sorrow, Soujirou relayed every detail of the morning's strange events to Aoshi including the unnatural strength and ferocity of Yahiko's ki and what had happened because of it. Aoshi was stunned and intrigued as well as deeply worried.  
  
"You believe it was his intention to take Myojin-san from the very beginning?"   
  
"Yes, Aoshi-sama. I believe the entire confrontation was orchestrated to judge his power and strength. Misao and I were simply there to be participants, or perhaps catalysts to help manipulate him into the performance required of him by the man in black."  
  
"I see. I am inclined to agree with you, Seta-san. Otherwise, there is no logical reason for the man in black to render both you and Misao unconscious and kidnap Myojin-san." His handsome and usually expressionless face took on a look of deep concern. "We must discover why he took Myojin-san, and where he took him, and we must do it with utmost speed and secrecy." Fierce jade eyes met those of his two friends. "Misao, you must alert the entire network of the Onniwabanshu in Kyoto to watch and listen, and Seta-san, you must go to Himura and tell him what has happened. We must find Myojin-san... before it is too late."  
  
"Too late? Aoshi-sama?" Misao's voice was a frightened squeak.  
  
"Yes. The burning and bloodied sky this morning has left me with the feelings that there is a great and terrible evil coming to Kyoto in the very near future. An evil so horrible and of such tremendous proportions that Hell itself may cross over into the world of men and consume every living thing... unless a way is found to stop it."  
  
"Aoshi.... " Misao could hardly say his name. "What are you... how can... I... "   
  
"How do you know this??" Soujirou was shaking his head in emphatic denial. "We know nothing about this man's reasoning for taking my brother. We know nothing."  
  
"Nothing? Seta-san, you said it yourself. The man was carefully judging the boys' strength and power, and this morning the sky burned and bled with the fires of Hinokagusuchi. The lake of fire burned across the horizon for all to see. The God of Fire has descended into our midst, and that can only herald the coming of tragedy for the souls of mankind. We are being prepared for the coming of something terrible." Aoshi's voice took on a tense conspiratorial tone. "When I was joined with Himura's mind, I saw many things including the reason his ki was so badly damaged." Thin black brows furrowed in deep thought. "He saw many horrors that not only stripped him of his ki, but nearly robbed him of his sanity as well."  
  
"What kind of things, Aoshi-sama?" both Soujirou and Misao looked to their elder in shock.  
  
"Himura saw the Devil with his own eyes, and it nearly killed him." Jade eyes bore into astonished blue and blue-gray. "He witnessed the human sacrifice of a child, and all manner of unclean blasphemy." Aoshi turned introspective. "It takes the blood of an innocent spilt upon a consecrated alter during a specific ceremony to open the door between Earth and Hell. That is the only way the Devil can enter into this plane of consciousness. The more pure in heart the child, the longer the door will stay open. So, what would be needed if the door had to stay open for a very long time? Perhaps indefinitely? How would one go about achieving that?" His intense gaze moved to rest on his two shocked friends. "What would you need to do that?"  
  
"An especially pure child... " Misao replied in a shaky choked whisper.  
  
"Yes," Aoshi agreed. "But the child must be more than that. The child must be able to stay alive for a much longer time that any of the others. So you would need a very strong child."  
  
"A willful, powerful, fierce child." Soujirou's voice was filled with agony and sorrow.  
  
"Yes. A child with tremendous emotional attachments and a heart that would be willing to fight to the death for the ones he loved... without a thought for himself. A child whose ki would carry him far beyond his own physical limitations and exceed the humanly possible."  
  
"A wildling...? "  
  
"Yes, Seta-san. A wildling. A natural born warrior with a ki limited only to whatever control he has over his own emotions."  
  
"That would make Yahiko a... almost a monster." Misao's eyes grew huge. "He could be almost unstoppable if he ever completely lost his control."  
  
"If indeed he is this wilding, yes it would. He could have a ki strength liken unto nothing any of us have ever seen or are likely to see again. A power like that could have the ability to break bones and crush organs without ever physically touching an enemy. He could kill with his thoughts and emotions, and never even draw his weapon, and the essence of such a ki could render a doorway to Hell open forever if channeled properly."  
  
"Kuso."  
  
"Dear God." Soujirou rose to his feet. "I will go to Himura-Otou. He must know about this." And he walked away towards the front gates. Misao could only sit and stare at a nonexistent spot on the wall as she contemplated her young friend.  
  
"Yahiko? A wildling? A super-ki?" It was still hard to digest the fact even coming from Aoshi-sama.  
  
"He could be the force used to bring about the complete destruction of the living world as we know it. We must find him and stop this while there is still life in his body."   
  
"Are you saying we might have to kill him? Aoshi-sama?"  
  
"I hope it never comes to that, Misao. But whatever must be done must be done. It is for the greater good that we must fight for here. If we can save Myojin-san, we will. If we cannot, then may God have mercy on all our souls... and may we have the strength and courage to do what we must to save his." 


	11. Mother Earth's Flaming Heart

Standard Disclaimers=I do not own and of the characters in Ruroni Kenshin.  
  
Glossary: zenrei=my whole soul, sotsu=son, ka=good, sho-ji=outside door, Arigatou=thank-you, Otou-san=father Otou=father, Nani=what?, engowa=veranda, deshi=apprentice, ( ''=thoughts)  
  
  
  
Chapter Eleven  
  
Mother Earth's Flaming Heart   
  
Three days. It had been three days since Yahiko had been taken from the Market place, and Kenshin was becoming more and more irritable and nervous with each passing moment.   
  
After Soujirou's disclosure of the terrible news, he had accompanied Kenshin and Kaoru to the Police Station where they frantically informed Hajime Saitoh about Yahiko's disappearance. Saitoh had been uncustomary alarmed and had immediately sent his assistant Izukia to fetch Seijurou Hiko at once. Within only an hour, the five adults were in a deep and very worried conversation about the missing boy.  
  
Saitoh, Hiko, and Kenshin were in agreement with Aoshi's deductions that the kidnapping was not a coincidence but a staged maneuver by the man in black. They were also in agreement that the sunrise was definitely a bad omen and heralded the coming of great evil to the city. Upon hearing Kenshin's explanation about the Autumn Moon Festival, Hiko felt that everything was somehow connected, but when Soujirou told them Aoshi's theory about Yahiko being the catalyst used to open a potentially permanent door between Earth and Hell, the three older men had all turned pale as mothers milk, and Kenshin looked as if he might faint dead away right there. Kaoru had been shocked into speechless silence and was unable to make even the slightest sound for several long moments.   
  
In the time that had passed since then, most of the contents of Kenshin's experiences in the Taki Mountains had become known to Soujirou, Misao, and, to his deepest sorrow, Kaoru. Since that time, she had been in a state of almost constant tears, and Kenshin was pacing like a caged wolf trying to find a way out. The Onniwabanshu had been unable to come up with any information as of yet, but everyone felt with the same certainty that Yahiko was still within the city limits. If he was going to be used as a sacrifice to open a permanent door to Hell on Autumn Moon night during the festival, then the ceremony must be taking place somewhere inside the city. They had one week to find out where. One week before full moon. One week before Yahiko's life force would be used to bring the King of Hell thundering into the world of men and an apocalypse of mediaeval proportions swept across the land.   
  
"Why haven't we heard anything yet?" Kenshin's voice was like the deep-throated growl of a rabid dog as he slammed his left fist into his right palm angrily. "There has to be someone somewhere in the bloody city that knows something. There just has to be. Why can't we find anything?" Kuso!! His fury was boiling and heated waves of anger flowed through the air of the room. "I cannot stand much more of this useless waiting."  
  
"You yourself said we could do nothing but wait until we hear something." Koaru had been watching him wear a pathway of dullness in the smooth wooden floor for the last two hours. "You need to calm yourself, Kenshin, or you aren't going to be useful to anyone including Yahiko." He stopped pacing long enough to glare at her. "You have gotten yourself all worked up into this state and you're about to explode with the stress it's putting on you. You have got to calm down and focus."  
  
"I am focused!" He roared. "Those animals have my son, Kaoru. I have seen what they do to the children they take, and now they have my son." Dark golden eyes alight with tortured grief and an angry determination locked with her agonized blue ones. "I cannot let that happen to him. I cannot. May my zenrei burn in the depths of Hell if I fail to save him." His voice trailed off in despair, and Kaoru moved to put her arms around his drooping shoulders.  
  
"Do not do this, Kenshin. We will find him. We will. Someone will hear something soon I know they will." Her tears fell into the thickness of his hair where she rubbed her cheek against his. "He is my little boy too." When she said that in her tiny sad voice, Kenshin wrapped his arms around her and they stood together in their grief.  
  
"I know, Koishii. I am sorry." He held her as she cried softly into his shoulder. "He is our sotsu. We will find him together." Her tear filled eyes looked into his questioningly. "But remember this, my love. When we find him, you will not be going with me to get him. Saitoh, Hiko, Soujirou, and I will be going, and we will bring him home, but you must stay behind." Gentle hands cupped her face. "I will not risk losing you inside of this nightmare that has become our reality. The only way I can face this is if I know you are safe and in no danger. Do you understand, Kaoru?"  
  
She chocked back a sob and nodded. He tenderly kissed her trembling lips, and then put his arms around her and pulled her against his heart again. "I have to know you are all right, Kaoru. Then I can do this. That is the only way I can do this."  
  
A frantic knock on the fusuma pulled them apart, and Kenshin moved quickly and opened it. On the other side stood Sergeant Izukia. He was flushed and breathing quite labouredly. It was apparent he had been running.  
  
"Sergeant? Come in. Please come in." Kenshin stood to the side and politely waved the officer into the room. "What has brought you here to my room... and in such a rush?"  
  
"Forgive me, Himura-san, Kamiya-san." He bowed respectfully to Kenshin and Kaoru. "But Captain Fugita has sent me to bring you both to the Police Station at once. "  
  
"Why? What has happened?" Kenshin's voice was sharp and the younger man flinched beneath it pointed force.  
  
"There is some news, Sir. Some news about the young man's whereabouts. It just came in this morning."  
  
"News..??"  
  
"News??" Kaoru's voice was anxious.  
  
"Yes. There has been a rumor heard down around the wharves of some very strange activities going on at night, and the Captain wants the two of you to come down to the station to discuss it." Kenshin grabbed up his sakobatou and he and Kaoru left with the young Sergeant.  
  
When they reached the Police Station, Kenshin burst into Saitoh's office without any preambles demanding to know what information he had about Yahiko.  
  
"Calm yourself, Battousai. Your bad manners are showing." Was Saitoh's stuffy response. "I will get to that in a moment, but first I would like you to meet some very interesting people."  
  
"People? Meet... interesting...? Siatoh, what the...?" Kenshin's voice trailed off in embarrassment as he took notice of the two men in police uniforms standing off to one side of the Captains desk. "Oh, please excuse me. I did not mean to be so rude or informal." Bowing and blushing Kenshin did his best to apologize to the officers. "Please forgive me. My good manners are suffering badly due to the stress I and mine are under these past few days. However, that does not excuse my bad manners. I am truly sorry."  
  
"It is quite all right, Himura-san. We understand better than you know."  
  
Kenshin's confused look centered on the men then became more confused. It was like looking at side-by-side mirrors. "You are... brothers?"  
  
"Yes," One of them smiled and stepped forward. "Twins to be more precise. I am Miko Thian, and this is my older brother, Miko Ishida. We are from Aizu."  
  
"Aizu?" Kenshin's brow furrowed in thought. "Why are you so far south from your home? And what do you have to do with the disappearance of my young... friend?"  
  
"WE do not have anything to do with his disappearance, but we think we can help you in finding him and possibly getting him back before..." His handsome face grew serious.  
  
"You know?" Kenshin looked from one brother to the other.  
  
"Yes. Well, I do not myself personally, but my brother," he indicated the man called Ishida who had yet to speak a single word. "He has seen... many terrible things." Thian looked back at Kenshin with sad eyes. "Many believe he has lost his mind; that he has gone mad, but I believe everything he has told me. Ishida was never a weak minded man. He had the strongest will of anyone I ever knew, and whatever did this to him was indeed a terrible thing. I can do little else but believe him. I am afraid our journey here has greatly worsened his condition. His mental and emotional strengths are beginning to fail him now."  
  
Kenshin looked carefully at Ishida and saw what had once been a very powerful man, now diminished into less than a wraith of his former self. 'This is what could have happened to me.' He thought sadly to himself as he noted the hollow frightened eyes that darted about the room forever watching, and the constant shivering of the sallow skin. 'This could have been my fate.' Slowly and with utmost care, Kenshin approached Ishida until he was close enough to touch him, then he gently laid a comforting hand on the mans twitching shoulder. Wild eyes, that should have belonged to a rabid beast and not a man, met his and held his gaze with an intensity born of primitive instinct.  
  
"Miko-san," Kenshin let his voice take on the soothing quality of a parent with a frightened child. "Miko-san, do not be afraid. Do you know who I am?" Ishida nodded and kept contact with Kenshin's eyes. "Ka, then listen to be, my brave friend. I know what you have seen, for I have seen things like it as well." Wild brown eyes began searching Kenshin's for the truth of his words. "I have seen horrors that my soul cannot believe, but my mind must accept because my eyes have seen them. My sanity has screamed on the edge of madness, and I have stood on the cliff of despair unable to bear what I know is the truth. So believe me when I tell you that I believe you without ever hearing one word of your experience."  
  
"You... you would believe?" The voice was a choked whisper of disbelief. "The great Battousai would believe?"  
  
"Yes, I would believe." Kenshin gripped Ishida's other shoulder and, squeezing his eyes tightly shut, pressed his forehead against the other man's. "I have seen the depths of Hell itself, and I have looked into the face of pure Evil and I have lived. I can only imagine what you have seen, but I do know this." He forced Ishida to look him in the eye again. "You are alive, Miko Ishida. Whatever else may have happened. YOU ARE ALIVE!"  
  
"Himura-san... " His voice remained a choked whisper. "I am a walking dead man. My time on this Earth is growing shorter every day I live. I am hunted by those who leave no footprints and cannot be seen by living men. They search for me like hounds on a blood scent, and when they find me, I will die." His voice changed to a tone of desperation. "There is something we must do. Something terrible and unthinkable, but it must be done. To save Japan and her people. To save the children it must be done." A violent shudder passed though his body. "Do you know of what I speak?"  
  
"Yes. I do."  
  
"You do?" His face was a caricature of despair and hope. "You know we must strike at the core of the power base. We must destroy that which manipulates all the rest. Do you see? Do you see what we have to do? Do you understand?" His eyes bore painfully into Kenshin's. "Do you know what the core of the power base is? Do you know what we have to destroy?"  
  
"Yes, I know. I have seen that which manipulates all the rest." Kenshin's voice lowered to a sad note. " And I know we must kill her. We must kill her and stop these ceremonies before she can complete the final ritual on Autumn Moon night."  
  
"Yes." The face visibly relaxed. "You know her then."  
  
"Yes. I know her."  
  
"Kami be praised. There is hope. There is hope after all." And he broke down into shuddering sobs. "Listen to me, Himura-san. There is so much more about her that you do not know. It is not just the children and the ceremonies. That is just one small part of a much more terrible and intricate plan."  
  
"What do you mean, Miko-san? One part of the plan? What plan?"  
  
"She is going to take over the whole country with the powers her lover is giving her."  
  
"Her lover??" It was Kaoru's shocked voice. "What do you mean by 'her lover'? Who is her lover? And who is 'she'?"  
  
This was the only part of Kenshin's experience that had not been relayed to Kaoru, and before anyone could stop him, Ishida blurted the information out in all its blasphemous glory.  
  
"The Devil, dear girl. Lady Elsbeth Katsura is the Devil's whore and he is her lover, and together they are going to take over the country through that stupid idiot of a husband of hers. General Katsura Anaki, and unless we find a way to kill her before she can open that final doorway into Hell, we are all dead men. We are all dead. Dead. Dead."  
  
**********************  
  
Delicate nostrils twitched at the putrid smell of must and old decay that filled the air. It was dank and heavy to breath, and it made his lungs hurt. Short barky coughs erupted intermittently through out the day and night as he struggled for a full clear breath of air in a place where air was in short supply.   
  
His muscles were weak from lack of activity, but his mind was as sharp as it had ever been, and it was in constant motion trying to figure out what was going on. He knew he was being held prisoner by some foreign man wearing strange clothes and speaking with an accent he had never heard before, but he did not know why. He could also tell from his musty dank surroundings that he was being held somewhere underground beneath an old building or something, but he did not know where. Come to think of it, he really did not know a great deal about his predicament, but he was determined to stay alert and keep his ears open. One never knew when a good piece of information was going to be dropped within earshot. So, he waited patiently. As patiently as a 12 year old can wait in the dark listening to the scurrying of rats and wondering if anyone on the outside was looking for him.  
  
"Do you think they're worried about me?" He asked the scurrying sounds to his left. "Huummph. Of course they're worried about you, you stupid baka. They are probably all out scouring the streets looking for you right now. Why would you even ask that? It was a stupid question." A dirty hand rubbed a dirty nose.  
  
"I guess so, but I am kind of a pain sometimes, you know. I mean, I really do give Kaoru a lot of shit when I shouldn't, and I'm always picking fights with Misao." A loud snuffing noise filled the room. "They might be glad to get rid of me." This was the thought that had kept coming to his mind over and over ever since he'd woken up and found himself in this musty black prison. Yahiko mentally punched himself in the face. "Stop it you big baby. They don't think that! Kenshin and Kaoru are looking for you, and you know it, and they're gonna find you too. So stop being such a boob and have some faith. Kenshin's never let you down and he won't now. He's gonna find you and when he does, he's gonna kick ass on that foreign piece of trash. You wait and see. He's gonna come for you. He really is." Yahiko wiped a few stray tears from his dirty face, and straightened his shoulders with determination.  
  
A few hours later as fatigue started to take its toll on the young man, and his eyes began to droop sleepily he mumbled softly into the crook of his elbow, "Please come for me, Kenshin. Please come. I am so afraid."  
  
****************  
  
"You have him? You have my precious boy? Oh Raul, Raul..." Elsbeth was laughing and twirling and dancing like a little girl as joy suffused through out her body. Her wide outstretched arms made her look like a fragile windmill as she spun across the floor of the drawing. "Oh wonderful, marvelous, exquisite.... oh I'm so happy, happy, happy." And she was singing. Raul was more than pleased with himself. He had never seen the Lady this happy before. Why she was positively glowing with the emotion. "I want to see him, Raul. I want to see him now. Take me there. Take me there right now. I can't wait. Take me. Take me. Take me." She was like a little girl who could not wait to open a beautifully wrapped gift as she pleaded and coaxed him to take her to where he was keeping the boy.  
  
"Of course, My Lady. I'll get the carriage." He swept quickly from the room and raced to harness the horses. It would not due if he were slow bringing the carriage to her after he had just made her so happy. Her wrath could be doubled when she was disappointed.  
  
The rapid clip-clop of the matching black horses hooves on the dusty streets held a monotonous sort of comfort for Elsbeth. It always had ever since she was a child. She could set in a carriage and listen to the sound and the miles would pass in a matter of moments for her, and she always arrived at her destination feeling clean and refreshed no matter how long she had been traveling. But today she was filled with energy and high vitality. Raul assured her he had found the perfect boy for her, and she was on her way to have a look at him. The anticipation was excruciating and arousing at the same time. She could hardly wait, and found she could not set still on the seat. So, uncustomary to her usual habits of keeping the curtains and shutters closed, she was setting on the edge of the seat looking avidly out of the window at everything they drove past as if she had never seen it before.  
  
A shrine, a clothing store, a fish market, a jewelry store, another shrine, a dojo, a rice vendor, some policemen, too many peasants, another shrine.... usually the typical scenes would bore her to madness, but she was finding humor and enjoyment in them today. Raul turned the horses and the carriage easily rounded a corner in the street. Elsbeth was admiring yet another shrine when her eyes were caught by an unmistakable shade of red that flashed off to her right. Quickly she lunged to the other side of the carriage and tore the curtains open. There her eyes beheld something she had never thought to see again. Those same eyes slowly filled with tears as the image grew smaller and smaller the farther away the carriage drove.  
  
"Himura.... "  
  
**************  
  
They were all standing in front of the Police Station talking about the rumors of strange noises going on around the wharves when the carriage sped past. No one took notice of the woman who stared transfixed out of the glass window, but as the carriage disappeared down the street, Kenshin felt a strange sliver of something touch him for a moment then it was gone. He turned and let his narrowed eyes follow the carriage until he could no longer see it. He had a very strange feeling that was not the last time he would be seeing that carriage.  
  
Thian and Ishida were taken back to the Aoiya and given a room to share. No matter how much he was reassured, Ishida would not give up his mind set that he was being hunted and there was no where he would be safe. It was difficult for the Onniwabanshu members to understand his fear of the unseen, but they did their best to accept it.  
  
"How do we help him, Aoshi-sama?" Misao looked at Ishida with sad pitying eyes.   
  
"I am not certain, Misao. We have no way of understanding what he fears because we cannot see it. Only he has seen it, and only when he was ill and in an altered state of mind. But he believes what he saw is real beyond all doubt; therefore, it is."  
  
"He saw it in an altered state of mind you say?" Her forehead creased in thought. "I wonder..."  
  
"What are you thinking, Misao?"  
  
"Well, if what he is afraid of can only be seen when in an altered state of mind, wouldn't that mean it could exist on a different plane of consciousness from this one?"  
  
Aoshi considered that idea for a moment. "That is a very good question. Are you asking me if it is possible for more than one living presence can exist in the same place at the same time, but at different levels of awareness?"  
  
"I guess so. Sort of like nightmares. When you have a really bad nightmare, you swear its real until you wake up, and even then sometimes you aren't sure."  
  
"Misao, what are you getting at?"  
  
"Well, what if it were possible to send something really bad into somebody's dreams to kill them? You heard Sergeant Miko tell Okina that he had to share a room with his brother 'cause he could not sleep alone, and when Okina asked why, he just said he couldn't."  
  
Aoshi looked at Miko Ishida's worn and hollowed face and saw the deep exhaustion that he wore like a heavy cloak. "He does not sleep." Aoshi's voice was stunned. "He cannot sleep." He looked at Misao in shock. "He cannot sleep alone."  
  
"If he does, he thinks he'll die." Misao was flatly matter of fact. "Kami. Can you imagine that? Not being able to go to sleep because there is something inside your dreams waiting to kill you, and its real." She shuddered as gooseflesh raced to cover her arms and legs.  
  
"As long as he is not alone, he is safe, but the fear never leaves him for a moment. A fate almost worse than death itself."  
  
"What could be after him? What would scare a man like him so much that it would turn him into what he has become?"  
  
"I do not know, Misao, but if we are right and this nemesis of his exists, then there has to be a way to stop it. There has to be a way to set him free." Both ninja sat and studied the other man where he sat huddled against one of the many trees in the courtyard. He was losing his battle. Aoshi motioned for Misao to follow him as he stood and walked over to Ishida.  
  
"May we join you, Miko-san?" He asked very politely. Ishida jumped at the unexpected noise, but graciously waved a hand for them to join him. "Thank-you." Aoshi and Misao sat opposite the policeman.  
  
"You wish to speak to me?" Ishida's voice was tremulous and very tired.  
  
"Yes." Aoshi put a comforting hand on the other mans forearm. "Please do not be afraid of us. We are here as your friends. We want to help you, Miko-san."  
  
"Help me?" An insane sounding little giggle bubbled over his lips and his hand rose to wipe a little bit of saliva off his chin that had run out of the corner of his mouth. "You cannot help me. No one can. I am damned, can you not understand that."  
  
"I can understand that is your perspective, and I do not blame you. The things you have been through must have left very deep wounds on your soul as well as your mind. However, that does not in anyway indicate that you are damned. On the contrary, I believe I may know a way to free you from the predator that hunts you, but you must trust me."  
  
Ishida was staring at Aoshi with wide round eyes filled with amazement. "You want me to trust you? You think you can help me? Are you insane?"  
  
"No, I do not think so. Actually, I am usually accused of being too logical, but never insane." A faint smile curved Aoshi's lips and Misao nearly fell over in shock. "I am being very sincere, Miko-san. I truly think I can help you. Will you tell me what it is that hunts you?"  
  
"Will you believe me, Shinomori-san, or will you scoff at me as so many others have?" Ishida's voice was filled with scorn and pain.  
  
"There are many things in this world that man is meant to know, but there are many more he was never meant to know. What each man believes depends upon that which his soul is willing to accept as the truth. When he is confronted with a truth his soul cannot accept, yet his mind must acknowledge because it has been seen, a man becomes damaged deep within the core of himself. Himura saw a horror that stripped him of his ki and nearly stole his mind, but he had the strength to survive. You have seen something that has stripped you of your dignity and strength of mind, but just like the Battousai you have survived. Both of you have seen things no man was ever meant to see or know, and both of you have survived which is a testament to the strength of your wills." Aoshi leaned forward and locked gazes with Ishida. "You are still alive, Miko-san. Whatever hunts you has not made a meal of you yet. The blood still flows in your veins it does not stain the ground, so why do you give up? Let me help you while there is still strength and power in your body to do so. I know I can help you. Let me."  
  
Ishida's head bent forward and he began to cry like a child. "I saw them. Do you understand, Shinomori-san. I saw them. I know what hunts me. I saw them."  
  
"I know. Tell me what you saw."  
  
"You cannot see them now. I cannot even see them now. The only time I saw them is when I got lost in the forests outside of Tomo and became ill with exposure. Only when I was ill could I see them. Do you see?"  
  
"Yes. Go on."  
  
"There are dozens of them. Perhaps hundreds. I do not know. It seemed they were everywhere I looked. In front of me, behind me, to the sides. There was nowhere to run. All I could do was stay awake and keep moving. I knew they could not touch me as long as I was awake. I do not know how I knew that but I did."  
  
"I understand. Go on. Tell me the rest."  
  
"They are supposed to be dead, you know, but they are not. They are not dead, but they are not alive either. A Zombie Horde of slaves they are. They march through the mountain forests and devour anyone unfortunate enough to fall asleep by their campfire, but they also obey their Mistress's bidding."  
  
"Explain."  
  
"She sent them after me. I spurned her when she tried to seduce me, the bitch. I opposed her husbands' unification plan for the northlands and she tried to seduce me to get control over me, but I resisted her. So in return, she cursed me with her Zombie Horde, and they will hunt me until I finally drop from exhaustion. Then they will devour me and deliver my pitiful soul up to her." He was shaking and crying as he tried to explain the source of his fears to the two ninja. "I am damned. There is no way to stop something you cannot see or touch except in your dreams."  
  
Aoshi traded looks with a stunned but not surprised Misao. "Yes, there is a way, my friend. There is a way."  
  
"You are insane, Shinomori-san. Nothing stops them. They are relentless. They do not fear anything. They are already dead!"  
  
"You are wrong, Miko-san. The undead do fear one thing."  
  
"What?" Ishida's face was full of anxious almost hysterical hope. "What? Tell me please. For I have never heard of such a thing."  
  
"Fire." Misao spoke the single word in a calm quiet voice. "They are afraid of Fire."  
  
"Fire?" Ishida looked painfully confused. "I don't understand."  
  
Aoshi closed his eyes and allowed himself a deep cleansing breath. "They fear Fire because it is the only thing that can destroy that which is undestroyable. It will burn their rotted decayed flesh to ashes in but a flash of a moment."  
  
"But how do you burn what you cannot see?" Ishida's voice filled with despair.  
  
"Simple, my friend." Aoshi and Misao shared a rare meeting of gazes. "We go to where they are."  
  
"You what? How in the name of the seven hells do you plan on doing that?"  
  
"You went there in an altered state of mind when you were ill. You can also go there in the altered state of dreams, but in dreams you have little to no control. We want control. We want to go into their world on our terms not theirs."  
  
"How are you going to do that?" Ishida was becoming more curious and less afraid.  
  
"A very controlled dose of Opium that will alter the mind but not completely dull the senses. I think that should be quite sufficient to cross the barrier between here and there."  
  
"That is an incredible notion. Absolutely incredible." Ishida was flabbergasted. He had never heard of anything so outrageous or ingenious. "It just might work, but there is still one question that remains unanswered." Aoshi inclined his head. "Where are you going to get the fire?" Aoshi just gave him conspiratorial glance.  
  
"Leave the fire to me, my friend. I know where to get it from, and there will be more than enough to do the job. However, there is something I need from you, and it is going to be very difficult but necessary."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I need you to get some sleep. I need you to be rested before we do this. Otherwise... I do not want to lose you in there just as I am trying to help you break free. Do you understand?"  
  
"Yes." The fear was still in Ishida's eyes, but there was something else in there with it. There was hope. "I do understand. I will try. I surely will." He stood up and turned to go find his brother but stopped. "Thank you, Shinomori-san."  
  
"You are most welcome, Miko-san. Please rest."  
  
They watched his retreating form until he disappeared inside his room with Thian. "Can you go and tell Himura about my idea, Misao, and see if he will come."  
  
"Himura? Why do you need Himura?" She was perplexed by his request.  
  
"He is the strongest source of Fire I know of. Unless you have a better idea." Aoshi's eyes twinkled at her for a moment before going back to their customary sternness. Misao was not sure she had seen that flash of gentle teasing or not, but she smiled at him anyway.  
  
"Ok, and no, I do not have a better idea. Himura has got the hottest ki of anybody I know. If anyone can burn ass on those creeps, it would have to be him." She stood up and waved airily at Aoshi. "Be back as soon as I can," Then she ran off.  
  
Aoshi watched her leave and noticed that she was really starting to grow up. She did not look very much like an isshi anymore. Her legs were getting longer, and the baby fat was all but gone leaving them lithe and well muscled. The once skinny boyish hips had started to broaden giving a gentle dip to her tiny waist. He was certain he could span the smallness of her tiny form with his hands. Small pert breasts were growing beneath her clothes and starting to push their way forward asking to be noticed, and he was doing just that much to his own personal consternation.   
  
'She is still a child.' He would chide himself roughly whenever he caught himself watching her. 'You can never... You should never even think... Misao… Meditate… Misao… Solitude… Misao …. Meditate… Misao…. Concentrate… Misao… Dammit!'  
  
***************  
  
So few sounds reached inside the dark musty space. So few sounds accept the rustling and scratching of the rats, as they tirelessly searched for food and a nook to huddle in for warmth. The sound of raspy shallow breathing was another sound that disturbed the silence of the heavy darkness. It was steadily becoming harder and harder for the boy to breath as his supply of oxygen dwindled more each day. The man in black came only in the very early mornings and brought him food and water. Then he saw nothing until the man came back the next day, and those short visits were not enough to allow much fresh air into the small stuffy room. The boy's strength was beginning to show signs of failing, but his tremendous will could not be broken.  
  
"Careful My Lady. Watch you step, the stairway gets very tight the closer to the bottom we get." Raul offered an arm to Elsbeth as she delicately negotiated the steep stone stairwell. They were descending into an underground maze of tunnels that was located beneath the city. Inside the tunnels there was an access to one of the old prison complexes that had been used during the early days of the Bakumatsu, but no one bothered with it anymore. Raul had found the tiny compact cells useful on many occasions, and this one was no exception. The prison had proved to be the perfect place to hide the brat where no one would ever think of looking for him.   
  
"Is it much farther, Raul? You know how much I hate long drawn out things."  
  
"No My Lady. It is just there around the last turn. There is a door, and then we are there."  
  
"All right." Her eyes continued to gleam with liquid silver lights. "I can hardly wait."  
  
Raul produced a large iron skeleton key and worked the equally large lock. The door needed a hefty shove before it opened. The old rusty hinges groaned in protest, and the heavy wood scraped and grated across the hard dirt floor. Elsbeth walked through to the inside and waited while Raul lit a torch. Then she took his offered arm and followed him down a larger tunnel for a short way until they made a sharp right. There was another door, but it did not have a lock. It opened easily with only a push. Once past, Raul led her past several small wrought iron doors that stood no taller than her shoulders, and then he stopped before one in the middle.  
  
"We are here My Lady." A huge broken tooth smile split his swarthy face.   
  
"Oh splendid, splendid." She danced and hopped like a little girl as she waited for him to open the lock on this very special door. "Do hurry Raul. Please, I feel as if I may faint from the anticipation."  
  
The sound of the lock tumbling open was greeted with an excited squeal of delight. As the door opened, Elsbeth grabbed the torch from Raul and dashed inside the stuffy cramped cell.  
  
"Where are you my darling boy?" She sang in her gayest voice. "Where are you? I am here. Come out and let me see you. Let me see you my dear shining child of promise." She swept the torch light in a wide arch around the cell until its flaming light found the crouched form of the prize she was so eagerly searching for. "There you are... " Brilliant green eyes glittered lethally as she crouched and approached the boy setting in the farthest corner.  
  
She surveyed him closely as she closed in on him. Hair black as the blackest night, a robust and strong looking body, and, as he raised his head and met her eyes, she saw a fierce and untamed spirit reflected in his light brown ones.  
  
Yahiko looked at the incredibly beautiful woman approaching him. She was crouched low like a cat stalking a bird, and he had the uneasiest feeling that HE was the bird she was stalking. Her hair was a dark color and it was pulled up on her head. He could see it must be very long by the way it wrapped around and around. When he met her eyes, the breath froze in his chest. They were the most terrible things he had ever seen.   
  
Their color kept shifting from a bright glittering green to a flowing liquid silver. The colors seemed to be changing from one to the other of their own will, and they were glowing as well despite the darkness.   
  
Fear slithered up his spine. He could feel the breath stalling inside his lungs as they refused to function. "What in the hell...." His voice was a mere croak and it was lost before it ever left his  
  
throat. Light brown eyes filled with fear of the unknown turned a brilliant blood red, and a natural born ki shook itself to life. Protect, survive, protect, survive. The rush of adrenaline that surged through Yahiko jolted him into a state of ferocious readiness and his fear disappeared.  
  
Bloody eyes narrowed in a vicious primitive glare. A body that had only moments before had been tired and weak was now pulsating with strength, and sliding into a protective fighting stance he raised fists gone white with rage. The young innocent face shifted and became contorted in a snarl as the sound of a warning growl oozed from the boy's throat.  
  
Elsbeth stopped short leaving a meter of space between her and the boy. What was happening? She could feel something pushing against her. Something foreign and disturbing to her spirit. She watched warily as the boy's eyes changed from a frightened brown to an ungodly blood red. Her heart was racing as those bloody eyes narrowed dangerously and started to glow with power. Then to her further amazement, the boy rose to his feet with the gracefulness of a dancer, and assumed a practiced battle stance of an educated fighter.  
  
Elsbeth had never felt nervous before, but this boy had a quality she had never felt in anyone before. As a growl of challenge slid out from behind a primitive wolfish snarl, she could almost feel the rage and fury washing over her in wave after wave of spiritual energy. This was wild and uncontrolled rage. This was a warrior's ki.   
  
She had heard of such things before when she and Himura had been together. He had one of the most powerful ki's of any warrior, but she found herself wondering if it would stand up against this monstrosity that was the boy's ki. Could anyone?   
  
"Well." She let her voice take on a purring quality. " Aren't you the energy cache of the Century, and you are all mine. Is it not splendid?" As a wicked smile curved across her beautiful red lips, she straightened to her full height.   
  
Yahiko saw she was a very small woman, but he did not let his guard down. There was something wrong about her. Something very wrong and very dangerous. "I don't know what you're talking about, Lady, but I don't find anything about this place or you 'splendid'. In fact, I think the whole thing is bullshit."   
  
"Really?" She watched him carefully and noticed he did not waver in gaze or stance. "Do you have any idea where you are or what is going on, Dear Boy?"   
  
"No, not really, but that doesn't really matter. It's only a matter of time until my family finds me, and then your stupid desert boy over here is gonna get his ass kicked and you're gonna end up in jail for keeping me in here."  
  
Elsbeth threw her head back and let her laughter fill the cell. "Oh my but you are the brazen one aren't you." Glittering green eyes reached out and held his bloody gaze. "I do not think any of that will happen my precious. You show far too much faith in a family that can never hope to find you, and a police force that are far too stupid to ever catch me."  
  
Yahiko felt a small tremor of doubt pinch his heart, but he shoved it away roughly. "I don't care what you say, Old Hag. My family will come. I KNOW THEY WILL." His profound conviction forced her into taking an unconscious step backwards.  
  
"You cannot know that. No one can know anything like that. There is no way anyone can find you down here, in this old prison, Precious Boy. No one knows it exists any longer."  
  
"I don't care what you say, Lady. They will find me." Bloody eyes bore into her faltering face. "I win bitch. You lose."  
  
"NO! No one can find you in here, you senseless Brat. No one." She whirled away from his smug face, and stomped to the door. "Oh, I almost forgot." Her face wore a look of triumph when she turned back to face him. "I never told you what was going on, did I."   
  
Yahiko watched her approach him again feeling very uncertain. "No, you didn't."  
  
"Well, it seems that I need you for a very special, ahh party I am planning for the night of the Moon Festival. It is very important for everyone that you are in attendance."  
  
"What are you talking about, Lady? What do you need me there for? I don't get it?" He could feel something bad was about to happen.  
  
"Goodness, do not be so modest. You are the guest of honor."  
  
"ME?"  
  
"Of course. The party would be a complete disaster without you." Her eyes were gleaming like liquid silver again, and she was beginning to resemble something very evil.  
  
"Why?" He could feel a little of his resolve slipping.  
  
"Because young one, I need your blood, your heart, and your soul to summon the King of Hell into this world, and you have just proven to me that you have the strength and the power to open the door between these two worlds... Forever."   
  
"You're crazy. You can't do that."   
  
"No…? Are you so sure?"  
  
"I still don't care!" He yelled into her surprised face. "It will never happen. You'll never get the chance to do it. My father and brother won't let you do it. They won't let it happen. NOT EVER!"  
  
"Your father and brother?" Tinkling laughter fell from her lips. "Do you really think two stupid human men can stop me from doing what I want to do when an entire country has been at my mercy for over seven years? You're a fool Child if you think your pitiful family will save you."  
  
"Yeah, well they aren't just any family. We all sort of adopted each other because we didn't have our own Families. So this is no ordinary family you are fucking with bitch."  
  
"Are you telling me these men are not even your real family?" Elsbeth was incredulous.  
  
"So what if they aren't. What are families anyway? People caring about each other and making a life worth living together. Well, that's what we all did, and that makes them my family." He battled to remain confident in the face of her continued humor and disbelief.  
  
"You must tell me who these outstanding figures of supreme manhood are, Precious. I would know whom I face should they happen to stumble onto my little gathering." She was mocking him and he knew it.  
  
"You ever hear of the 'Sword of Heaven', Lady, or the ' Hitokiri Battousai?"  
  
Elsbeth's face froze and she remained still as an icy statue for several seconds. "Whom did you say?" Her eyes had grown distant.  
  
"You heard me. The Sword of Heaven. Seta Soujirou, and the Hitokiri Battousai. Himura Kenshin." Yahiko saw the woman's lower lip start to tremble, and her eyes were filling with tears. "Kenshin came to stay at Kamiya Kaoru's dojo two years ago. The two of them took me in off the streets. She is my sensei and started teaching me Kassin Ryuu, and he looks out for me like a Father. Seta Soujirou was once the Tenken and he was an assassin for Shishio Makoto, but he's not like that anymore. He's more like Kenshin now, and Kenshin pretty much adopted him as his son a while ago. So that makes him my brother, and you had better be sure they are looking for me, and you can be certain THEY WON'T GIVE UP UNTIL THEY FIND ME. Not ever."  
  
A single tear slid down Elsbeth's face and dripped off her chin. She sent one tragic look at Yahiko, and then she left.  
  
"Himura.... " Yahiko heard the pitifully whispered word and found himself in a state of confusion and worry.  
  
"She knows Kenshin... She knows him. How can she know him?"   
  
***************  
  
"Did you bring the Opium with you?" Aoshi's forever-stern jade eyes bore into Saitoh.  
  
"Of course. Do you think I would come all this way to such a... lovely abode as this, Aoshi, and not bring the required item with me?" His black boot deftly stomped on the smoking cigarette butt dropped on the ground. "Kami forbid I would have to come here twice." He offered Aoshi the small Urn he carried with a sour smile.  
  
"Thank-you, Saitoh-san. You have been most helpful. Are you certain you will not stay and participate in the activity? We really could use all the help we can get."   
  
"If I could, but I am afraid not. There are several urgent matters that have come up that require my attention; however, I am very concerned to know the outcome and the status of Captain Miko when you are finished. I want to know if it works." Aoshi noticed a true sense of concern radiating from the usually sarcastic and egotistical policeman.  
  
"I will inform you right away as soon as possible."  
  
"Thank-you. Oh, and good luck."   
  
"Arigatou, Saitoh-san." The men exchanged bland looks, and Saitoh left the Aoiya. "One day someone may actually find out that man has a heart." Aoshi's voice was filled with derision.  
  
"Maybe sooner than you think, Shinimoiri." Aoshi was startled to hear the sardonic voice of Kenshin's Master, Seijurou Hiko. Hiko dropped to the ground abruptly taking a seat close to Aoshi's left. "So, you guys are really planning on going through with this harebrained idea of yours."  
  
"Yes, and actually the idea is quite sound in its theory." Aoshi's replied mattered of face.  
  
"You really think so? You really think getting stoned is going to help you and Kenshin see these... things that are supposedly hunting that crazy cop?" Hiko had been skeptical from the first moment he heard Aoshi's plan.  
  
"Yes, I do. If you think it is such a parody of intelligence, Hiko-san, why don't you come with us and see for yourself." Thin black brows lifted a fraction over challenging jade eyes.  
  
"Why do you think I am here, because I suddenly became lonely for your stimulating company? I do not think so. Of course I am going to go with you and that baka-deshi of mine." Narrowed emerald eyes bore fiercely into Aoshi's jade ones. "Someone has got to make sure the two of you do not get yourselves killed."  
  
"Then you believe Miko-san's story."  
  
"Yes. I never said I did not believe him. I said this was a harebrained idea."  
  
"Ah, my mistake." Aoshi would never understand this man. Arrogant and egotistical beyond belief, yet within his heart he was a deeply compassionate caring man. The combination made the man infuriatingly hard to read, even for Aoshi.   
  
"You think every idea is harebrained if it is not yours, Master." Kenshin gracefully lowered himself into a sitting position next to Hiko. "That is one of the reasons you always think you are right." He let a mocking smile cross his face as humor danced in his violet eyes. "Besides, I think you want to go with us just so you can tell us 'I told you so' because you think it will not work."  
  
"Perhaps, but I am also curious. What if it does work, I would hate to be the only one who was not there to see it." He smiled conceitedly. "After all, someone exceptional needs to be able to take credit for the success." All Kenshin and Aoshi could do was shake their head in mock defeat. Hiko would never change.  
  
Before anymore-sarcastic pleasantries could be exchanged, Misao, Soujirou, and Kaoru arrived with Ishida and Thian in tow.  
  
"It looks as if everyone who is has to be here is accounted for." Aoshi waved his hand and indicated the three men to sit down. "Misao, Kaoru, I need the two of you to remain alert and prepared to bring any one of us out of trance at once if it looks like there is trouble." The two young women nodded in understanding of his order and took seats directly to his left. "Do you know what to do?" He asked.  
  
"I think so." Kaoru replied. "If there is trouble, we have to slap whoever it is really hard."  
  
"Yes. Very hard. Hard enough to get his attention to focus on you and bring him back to this reality. Can you do it?" he looked hard at Misao.  
  
"Yes." Her eyes shone bright with her determination. "I can Aoshi-sama."  
  
"Very well." A great feeling of pride filled his heart as he looked at her brave face. She had a true fighting spirit, and the strength of will to match it. "You must be ever watchful, Misao. All of our lives could be in your hands and Kaoru-san's."  
  
"I understand. I will not let you down. I will not let any of you down. I promise."  
  
"We will both be here for you. All of you." Kaoru's eyes search out Kenshin's and held his gaze bravely. "We will not let any of you perish."  
  
"Then let us begin." Aoshi opened his right hand and revealed the urn Saitoh had given him. Upon removing the lid he withdrew 10 small wooden pipes each filled with a very small amount of black opium. He handed one to each of the five men setting around him keeping one for himself. Four remained unused. "There is barely enough opium in each of these pipes to cause a shift in our conscious perception, but I hope that slight shift will be enough for all of us to reach the altered state we need to in order to do battle with Miko-san's adversaries." Misao produced matches, and each man took one. "All right my friends. May Kami-sama and the spirit of Buddha be with us in our hour of peril." The odor of sulfur filled the air as six matches were struck. Each pipe smoked to life with a bright red glowing ember as the opium caught the heat and melted. Three long draws of the sense altering smoke, and the men put their pipes down. "The time will come soon." Aoshi's voice was a drifting whisper on the afternoon breeze.  
  
Ishida was floating through a light blue hazy world where time seemed to be slowing down, and all of his cares were drifting away. He was calm and at peace in a way he had not been since the night of General Katsura's meeting. Dark brown eyes opened and he could see that he still sat next to his brother and the young Seta-san. Their surroundings had taken on a strange water-like shifting quality, as one color seemed to bleed into another. Looking around the circle of men, he could see each of them opening their eyes to take in the altered sphere of perception they were caught up in.  
  
"Very interesting." Hiko's voice held an odd disembodied slurred sound as he spoke. It almost felt as if he were moving and thinking in slow motion. The hand he raised in front of his face bled in and out of the surrounding scenery yet somehow remained cohesive in and of itself.   
  
"Be mindful, My Friends. It feels like we are being watched." Aoshi's voice held the same disembodied slurring sound as Hiko's.   
  
"I feel it as well." Kenshin rose to kneel on one knee. His sharp amber gaze burning into the shifting scenery. "We are being hunted."   
  
"I feel them, but I cannot see them." Soujirou was kneeling next to his adopted father in a moment. "Where are they?" Blue-gray eyes scanned across the courtyard searching.  
  
"I do not know, but they are there."  
  
"There are many. More than I thought there would be." Aoshi sounded surprised. "How many can you perceive, Himura?"  
  
"At least one hundred. Maybe more."  
  
"There are more." Hiko was now kneeling at Kenshin's left his greenish-yellow eyes staring hard into the melting colors. "There are many more. Listen." The four men become exceptionally quiet while they listened intently for even the merest of whispers hanging on the breeze. Behind them Ishida was huddled close to his brother. Large brown eyes turned white with fear, frantically searched for any signs of the horrors he had seen only once before.  
  
"Can you feel them, Thian? Can you feel their hunger?"  
  
"I feel something, Ishida. God help me. I feel something."   
  
Misao and Kaoru watched in shocked silence as each of the men left their place in the circle. Kenshin was the first, and then Soujirou, Aoshi, and finally Hiko followed him. The four of them were now kneeling side by side in the grass facing the shoji. The puzzled women looked at the closed doors, and then back at the four men crouched in readiness.   
  
"What are they doing, Kaoru?" Misao was more confused now than she had been before the men smoked the pipes. "What are they waiting for?"  
  
"I do not know. This is all very strange. Come on." Kaoru motioned for Misao to follow her, and she moved closer to where the men kneeled. She and Misao could hear some of the conversation now, and it was very disturbing. Kenshin and the others were talking about 'something being out there', and Hiko was saying there were more than one hundred of 'them'. Someone even mentioned a feeling of being hunted. Gooseflesh spread across the arms of both women as a sense of ill will descended over the courtyard. "What in the hell is going on?"   
  
"Kaoru...?"  
  
"Keep your eyes open, Misao. I have a bad feeling about this. A very bad feeling."  
  
Kenshin spoke directly over his shoulder without turning his head. "Thian, can you hear me?"  
  
"Yes, Himura-san." The voice was filled with fear and despair.  
  
"Thian, above all you must protect your brother. He is the bait that brings these beasts to us. You must keep him away from what we are doing, and you must remember something else that could be the difference between his life and his death."  
  
"What is that?"  
  
"YOU MUST NOT BE AFRAID. They will feed off your fear and you will be useless to him. Do you understand, Thian?" Kenshin spoke with a fierce strength trying to bolster the courage of the frightened man. "Leave the fighting to us. You take care of your brother, and no matter what you see, do not be afraid."   
  
Then the four men rose in a single motion and stood in a solid line in front of the shoji. From beneath his flowing white cape Hiko produced three wooden torches. He handed one to Soujirou, one to Aoshi, and the last he kept for himself. Kenshin did not hold a torch. No one had seemed to think he would need one.   
  
"Himura-otan?"  
  
"Nani?  
  
"I do not think they are outside the shoji." Soujirou sounded cautious.  
  
"Are you certain? I cannot tell." His golden gaze shifted to the younger man, and saw that a change had come over him. His hair was shimmering with golden light, and his eyes were gleaming with the brilliance of a thousand stars awash in deep blue midnight sky. Kenshin caught his breath at the amazing sight. "Soujirou..." he whispered.   
  
"They are already inside. They are with us now, but they shift with the world." He turned sharply and called for Misao. "Bring us the pipes again and relight them."   
  
Misao ran and scooped up four of the pipes and matches. Soujirou redistributed them to his 3 comrades and instructed them to take two or three more drags of the opium smoke, and then they knelt and waited for the perception altering drug to push them further inside the alternate reality.  
  
"Kesnhin..." Kaoru could feel the tension building inside of her lover. His eyes were becoming a deeper color of amber with each passing moment, and nervous fear was starting to tighten the muscles in her stomach as she watched the man she loved fade and the soul of the Battousai appear.   
  
"Perhaps it would be a good idea if we stood back to back." Aoshi suggested. The other men agreed and they formed a small circle, backs to each other. "I think this might be safer. We can watch all directions at once."  
  
"Agreed." Hiko took position on Aoshi's left. "A good plan, My Friend." Aoshi nodded in acceptance of the agreement from the more experienced man.  
  
"They are coming," Soujirou spoke in a low sharp tone. "Prepare yourselves."  
  
"Where are they?" Kenshin grabbed Soujirou's arm. "From which direction do they come?"  
  
"All directions, Father. They are everywhere!" And with his usual silence, Soujirou sprang from his place, lighting his torch, and disappeared into the clearing scenery. His vanishing was immediately followed by a cacophony of terrible screams and howls of pain and rage.  
  
"Dear God." Hiko's voice was nearly lost in the sounds. "Kami save us." His eyes shone with the colors of the spring daffodils and the blazing poisonous yellow orchid. The world around him was becoming clearer and clearer as the colors oozed back into their rightful places, and the edges of each object became more precisely defined. Suddenly he could see Soujirou, and what he saw brought a gasping cry to his lips.   
  
Soujirou, torch in hand, was in the middle of a countless number of rotting corpses that reached out with talon tipped fingers trying to tear his flesh as he leapt and dodged nimbly out of their reach, touching the orange flame to as many of the foul creatures as he could. Their gapping mouths were filled with tiny, razor sharp daggers, and the haunting moans of unfulfilled hunger and pain became more audible as the vision cleared.  
  
"Soujirou!" Kenshin screamed as he too became able to see through the clearing scenery. "Soujirou!" He screamed again and rushed forward on lightening feet his battle cry ricocheting off the Aoiya walls. Hiko struck his last match and lit both his torch and Aoshi's, and they followed the flaming red hair of the Battousai into the midst of a battle neither had quite expected.  
  
  
  
Misao and Kaoru stood rooted to the ground they stood on. Shock and terror had struck them still when Soujirou had flew into the middle of the garden without their having seen him leave his place with the other 3 men. He seemed to have just appeared out of thin air, and started swinging his blazing torch even as he leapt, jumped, duck, and dodged... nothing. Then only a few moments later, Kenshin was screaming his name, and, with his unearthly battle cry, he had disappeared as well only to appear at Soujirou's side. Aoshi and Hiko quickly followed him.   
  
"It's happening... Kaoru. Look at them. They are fighting for their lives, but what are they fighting?"   
  
"I do not know, Misao. Look at Miko-san." She pointed at Ishida. He was huddling in his brothers' arm sobbing like a child. "Do you think he can see it? He did not take the extra opium like the others."  
  
"I do not know. Maybe it would be better if he did not see." Kaoru met Misao's eyes for a moment.  
  
"You could be right." Then she turned her attention back to the battle going on in the center of the Aoiya garden. It was such a strange sight. Four grown men, all accomplished warriors, were deeply engaged in a fierce battle with an enemy only they could see. From the intensity of the conflict, the enemy was formidable.   
  
  
  
There were hundreds upon hundreds of the undead rotting corpses. It looked like they were appearing out of thin air or rising up from the ground itself. Soujirou, Hiko, and Aoshi slammed their torches into faces, bellies, backs, and crushed in bony skulls everywhere they could reach, but the Horde did not seem to decrease in number despite their valiant efforts.   
  
Kenshin's weapon against the Horde was very different. All he had to do was touch one of the evil creatures and it exploded into flames and fell writhing and screaming to the ground. He flew through the thronging mass punching, pushing, shoving, and tearing at anything that came within reach of his hands. Flaming rotted bodies fell by the dozens before the fire of his burning wrath.  
  
Behind them Thian held a hysterical screaming Ishida. They could not see everything as clearly as the others, but what they could see was terrifying beyond description. Thian wondered how his brother had  
  
retained any of his sanity at all after being stalked by these rotting wraiths for so many days. He fought his own terrible fear trying to keep it locked away behind a wall of resolve and faith. Those four strong men would win the battle. He had to make himself believe that. He had to control his fear. He must protect Ishida, and the only way he could was by not being afraid. He must keep the faith. He must.  
  
Kenshin watched as another face of rotting flesh melted into flaming ash beneath his hand. He could not understand how there could be so many of them. Where were they all coming from, and why were they not making any progress? They must have killed more than two hundred by now, and yet there were still that many left and more. He grabbed another rotted skull and felt it crush into dust in his hand while the creature itself burst into a pillar of flames. 'There has to be a way to stop them.' His mind was screaming in frustration while his burning hands seized head after rotting head crushing them into dust and leaving the body in flames. 'How do we stop this many? Kami-sama, help me! Help me!' A whirling back kick caught one of the larger creatures in the stomach, and Kenshin discovered his feet also worked as torches. 'What am I?' He mused. 'A living, breathing torch?' At the moment, he really did not care he was just very grateful that he was whatever he was.  
  
Hiko and Aoshi were standing back to back slashing with their torches at whatever came close enough to them to burn. The supply of victims for their fires never seemed to be in short supply. Soujirou continued his leaping; dodging attack and escape technique and dozens of the foul corpses fell beneath the devastating accuracy of his torch. However, the Horde never seemed to show any signs of lessening.  
  
Misao and Kaoru continued to stand their ground vigilantly as they watched the strangest battle either of them had ever seen. The four men before them were slashing, hacking, kicking, and striking out at a multitude of unseen enemies attacking them from all directions. For the women it was difficult to understand because they could not see what it was the men were fighting, but they were fighting for their lives.   
  
"I hate this." Kaoru clenched and unclenched her fists in impotent frustration. "I hate feeling so useless. I should be out there fighting with Kenshin not standing here watching."  
  
"No, you should not. Aoshi told us we needed to stay in this reality in case we had to pull one of them out of that one." Misao grabbed Kaoru's arm in an iron tight grip. "I know your worried about Himura, but you have to focus or else you are not going to be any good to him or anyone else." Her angry gaze locked with Kaoru's furious blue eyes. "So get a grip and focus, dammit. I need your help here and NOW. Got it?"  
  
"All right fine, but you get this girly. Get your fucking hands off me or I will tear your arms off, got it?!" Misao let go of Kaoru but did not waver or flinch under the scathing glare.  
  
"Listen Kaoru. I understand how you feel." Her eyes softened a little. "Aoshi is out there too, and I am just as scared something will happen to him as you are about Himura, but it is not going to do either one of us any good if we are at each others throats if something happens." Kaoru's head dropped and all the anger drained out of her.  
  
"I know Misao. You are right. I do need to focus. I do need to get a grip on myself. It is just.... I... " She sounded miserable.  
  
"I know, Kaoru. I feel the same way, but we have a job to do, so let's do it."   
  
"Yes, let's do it. I am sorry." The two women wrapped their arms around each other for a brief comforting embrace they both needed. As they drew apart, something terrible happened.   
  
A horrible screaming shriek split the breezy air of the Aoiya's courtyard, and Kaoru jerked around swiftly. She cried out in alarm as she watched Soujirou's body fly through the air and land with a sickening thud on the engowa. He did not move and appeared to be unconscious.  
  
"Soujirou!" Kenshin screamed causing both women to jump in frightened surprise. "Soujirou!" He screamed again, and Kaoru watched in terrified fascination, as he seemed to be trying to move through a dense jungle that was too thick to move in, or too many enemies to get by.   
  
"Hiko! Aoshi! Soujirou's been badly wounded." He cried. "You have got to help him. He is bleeding badly. They will be on top of him in seconds. Help him!" He yelled as his hands and feet struck empty air again and again. "Help him please. Run. RUN! RUN!" The voice rose to an urgent scream and he hunched over as if he had been over run by a multitude of the enemy.  
  
"Kenshin!!" Kaoru could not help the cry of alarm that burst from her mouth as she watched him struggling to fight his way free. With a massive surge of upper body strength Kenshin threw his arms out wide and pushed himself into a standing position his head thrown back. A mighty roar of ki strength vibrated throughout the Aoiya as he let loose his battle cry.   
  
Kenshin felt the power of his elementally mixed ki rise and then burn through his veins giving him a strength he had never known before, and he rose to his feet despite the weight of the creatures on his back. He threw his arms outward and his head backward and the call of the battlefield exploded from his chest. Every creature within five meters of him burst into flames and fell writhing to the ground. "Soujirou!"  
  
Aoshi looked to where Soujirou's body had been thrown. 'I cannot get to him in time.' He thought in despair. There were too many creatures between them. It was impossible. Then an idea occurred to him.  
  
"Misao!" She jumped in shock and whipped around to find him. "Get Seta-san. Go get him. Get him out of the way, Misao." Aoshi's voice rang strong and clear in Misao's ears. "Hurry Misao. There is not much time. He is bleeding. They will devour him in only moments. Run, Misao. RUN! RUN! RUN!" He was yelling at the top of his lungs and motioning her to move with his free hand. Misao turned in the direction Soujirou had landed and saw him laying in a heap half on half off the engowa.   
  
"I am coming, Sou-san." She cried and sprang forward at full speed instantly. When she reached him, she grabbed him by the wrists and pulled him the rest of the way off the veranda, and dragged him across the slick grass to where she and Kaoru stood. She saw Okina suddenly running out of the main room of the Aoiya to join her there. "Gramps, Aoshi-sama says Sou-san is wounded and bleeding, but I cannot find a single wound or drop of blood anywhere. I do not understand." Her perplexed face searched the old man's eyes for an answer.  
  
"That is because his wounds were not made in this world, Misao."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Nani?" Kaoru knelt beside Soujirou and placed her hand on his cool forehead.   
  
"Seta-san was wounded in the alternate reality. His wounds exist over there."  
  
"Over there?" Kaoru's voice was puzzled. "Are you saying he is bleeding, but he is bleeding over there?"  
  
"Yes, that is exactly what I am saying, Kamiya-san."  
  
"Tell me something, Okina-san. If he dies while he is still in that reality, will he die here too?"  
  
"Yes. The body cannot live without the mind and soul."  
  
"But I do not understand? Where is the blood coming from?" Misao knelt beside Kaoru.  
  
"His soul."  
  
"They wounded his soul?" Kaoru whispered in amazement. "The souls blood, not the body's?"  
  
"Yes. They are in the world of dreams. They are looking through the eyes of their souls. So if they are wounded or killed it will be the soul that is damaged not the body."   
  
"Then we have got to find a way to wake-up Sou-san."  
  
"Yes. We have to bring him back to this reality so he can understand the truth that he is not wounded at all."  
  
"How do we do that, Gramps?"  
  
"Get some cold water, Misao. Hurry, there is not much time."  
  
Kenshin could barely make out the forms of Misao, Okina, and Kaoru. They were kneeling around the still body of his son. "Kami, please do not let it be." He ran swiftly towards the group and stopped as close as he dared come. He knew in this strange reality that his friends could hear him, but he could not hear them. That would make communication difficult, but he had to know.  
  
"Koaru." He called out anxiously. She stood abruptly and walked toward him. Oh how he wished he could see the features of her face, and touch the smoothness of her cheek. "How is my son?" He asked looking behind her at the still form lying on the ground. "Is he alive?" She nodded her head, and he felt a rush of relief. "Will he live?" She stood still for several seconds and he started to worry. "Kaoru, will Soujirou live? Please tell me?" Fear and grief were rolling around in his stomach while he waited for her to answer. Finally she raised her arms out at her sides in a gesture of uncertainty. The grief and fear hit him equally at the same time as he realized she did not know if Soujirou would live or die. "God no.... " He whispered and he felt his eyes burning with tears. "Not my beautiful son."  
  
In his mind he could still see everything that had happened. Soujirou was fighting just up and to his left. He could see him leaping and dodging using the techniques he had learned in his years as the Tenken. Kenshin had not been worried about Soujirou. He was too fast and too clever to ever allow himself to fall into harms way, but then the unthinkable happened.  
  
Kenshin had seen the monstrous creature first. It had seemed to just rise up out of the ground. Then it was upon Soujirou's position before Kenshin could shout even one warning. One massive rotting hand reached out and grabbed the man by the high upper arm and shoulder while its free hand tore a deep gash into his vulnerable chest. Soujirou had screamed and his blood had spurt in huge gout into the face of the creature. It screamed and threw the limp body with its powerful arm. Kenshin had been to far away to help his son, so he ended up being an impotent observer. Now there was no way of knowing if Soujirou would live or die. "I failed him...," he whispered. "I failed him." Pale amber eyes squeezed shut and scalding hot tears ran down his cheeks. Then something happened to Kenshin. Something neither his Master nor his 'ki-brother' would ever be able to explain. Kenshin exploded.  
  
"NO!" He screamed with a fury that colored his eyes to a deep dark golden amber. The shifting shimmering depths burned with the flames of his deepest most primitive rage, and Kaoru took an involuntary step back. "I will not accept this." His voice was the roar of a great lion. It was the cry of grief. It was the voice of vengeance. Kenshin whirling around and disappeared. He let his God-like speed carry him to the surging pulsing center of the Horde where he stopped.   
  
"Kenshin. Get out of there! Are you insane?" Hiko screamed at his deshi when he saw him appear in the center of hundreds of the creatures. "Do you want to die? Get out of there! Kenshin!!" Then he and Aoshi watched as Kenshin's eyes began to glow. They glowed a deep rich golden color that was quickly replaced with the burning gold's and reds of living flames. "Kami..."  
  
"Himura... What is happening to you, my brother?" Aoshi was enthralled.  
  
Everyone watched as Kenshin raised his arms out in front of him hands with palms up. Hiko and Aoshi saw twin balls of fire form in those palms, and then Kenshin's entire body seemed to become outlined in flame.   
  
"Come to me." He cried and the Horde started to whimper and shriek. "Come and meet your undoing. For I am the Beginning and the End. I am your Death. I am Vengeance!" And a great cry rose from his body. The fire balls shot from his hands and exploded into dozens and hundreds more raining death and destruction down on the Horde. As the roaring battle cry continued, Kenshin balled his hands into fists and pulled them back to his sides. He threw his head back and the cry increased in intensity. The creatures not caught in his fire ball attack screamed and covered their ears in pain. The fiery outline around his body grew and became brighter and the flames rose higher and higher. Then with one word the world burst into flames.  
  
"Die!"   
  
Kaoru, Misao, and Okina felt a rush of scorching hot wind whip past them and force them to the ground. It was like the heat inside of Hiko's pottery oven and they raised their arms to protect their eyes. Kaoru struggled to crawl over to Soujirou and kneeled over his face to protect him.  
  
Hiko and Aoshi were blown six to seven meters away from where they had been standing. Both of them tried to push as close to the ground as they could as the great billowing wall of fire swept over the top of them. The heat was incredible. The sound was like nothing either of them had heard before. It sounded like a great roaring wind and raging sea storm put together to make one tremendous sound, and it was deafening to their ears.   
  
Suddenly it was over. The terrible scorching wind stopped. The inferno ceased. The world became quiet. Quiet as a cemetery. This was the aftermath of the murderous burning fury of a Father's heart.   
  
  
  
It was the beginning of the Elemental Warrior. It was the birth of Mother Earth's Flaming Heart.   
  
The war for control of the living world was beginning. The first battle had been won, but there were many more waiting. 


	12. Prayers

Standard Disclaimers…blah blah blah  
  
Glossary: baka-deshi=stupid apprentice, koishii=dear or darling, shin-yuu=friend, sotsu=son, engowa=veranda, kun=Master, Bakumatsu=Revolution,  
  
sho-ji=outside door, ''=thoughts  
  
Chapter Twelve  
  
  
  
Prayers  
  
  
  
Air, tuned cold and crisp by an early Autumn breeze, blew gently across the heated grounds of the Aoiya courtyard and the huddled people inside of it. The silence overhanging the strangely empty battlefield had a quality of freshness about it. The entire area felt as if it had been swept clean by the hand of God because not one shred of evil ki remained in the aftermath of the horrible battle with the Zombie Horde.   
  
Within the reality of dreams and visions Hiko and Aoshi warily uncovered their heads and looked around at the strange scene. There was not a single creature left crawling, lurking, or stalking around the Aoiya. They both rose to their knees and surveyed the damage to the alternate world. The ground was charred black from the flames, and it was still smoking and burning in many places. The trees, grass, and gardens were untouched as was the Aoiya itself, but each creature of the Horde was completely obliterated from existence.   
  
"It would seem that Himura's ki Fire only touches that which is truly evil. Only the Horde has been destroyed. The rest of this world is untouched." Aoshi looked around at the strange patterned of destruction.  
  
"The Horde and the ground they stood upon." Hiko's booted foot stomped out a glowing ember that was smoking near them. "If it had not been that discriminating, you and I would be part of the burnt ash being blown away by the breeze."  
  
"Indeed. Did you ever imagine he was capable of such a thing?"  
  
Narrow emerald eyes met inquisitive jade for a moment. "No. I never did." His answer was short and his tone told Aoshi not to pursue the subject further. Aoshi nodded in acquiescence, and the two men climbed shakily to their feet. "Where is he? Where is Kenshin?" Hiko sounded slightly worried as he scanned the scorched battle grounds for his deshi. "I do not see him anywhere. Aoshi... "  
  
"You must not despair, Hiko-san. We will find him." They swiftly started to walk across the scorched and burning ground towards the last place they had seen the red-haired man before the fiery explosion.  
  
Within the reality of the conscious world everyone was still reeling from the blast of heated wind. Beneath their knees and bodies the grassy ground still felt hot to the touch but it no longer felt like it would burn their skin off.   
  
  
  
Thian pulled his unconscious brother into his arms and lifted him over his shoulders. Ishida had been thrown several meters by the ferocity of the burning winds and had struck his head on a large stone. A fair amount of blood stained the stone and his face, but he was alive. Standing up with some difficulty, Thian carried Ishida towards the small group of people and laid him down in the grass close by then looked around. He could account for everyone... except the Battousai. Where was Himura-san?  
  
  
  
Kaoru pulled back from Soujirou and scanned his face worriedly. He was still unconscious, but now his skin was cold beneath her trembling hand. Pale eyelids looked faintly bruised against the frightening whiteness of the rest of his face. It was hard to tell if he was breathing or not.  
  
"No. Oh please no. Do not let this happen. Not to Soujirou. Not now. Please not now." She slid her hand beneath his neck and lifted his head into her lap then started to stroke his fine hair. "Wake up Soujirou... please wake up." Sad blue eyes looked across the courtyard and saw Hiko and Aoshi stand up. She could not hear what they were saying, but they both looked concerned. Her brows knitted in puzzlement and then she saw them purposefully start walking across the yard. "Kenshin... " Her gaze flew to her far left to the last place she had seen him.  
  
Her mind raced back to that memory. She could see him standing in the middle of the courtyard holding his arms out in front of him with his palms up. He had cried out that he was death and vengeance, and then something she could not see happened, but it was what happened afterwards that had created the blistering wind. He had thrown his head back and cried out a battle cry that was like nothing she remembered hearing before. It made the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stand on end, and it had shaken the branches of all the trees and rattled all of the fusuma. She shuddered remembering the tremendous force of his powerful ki as it swept across the Aoiya and everyone in it. Her anxious blue eyes searched across the grassy yard looking for him, but the colors of his faded pink gi and blazing red hair could not be seen anywhere. Kaoru began to worry.   
  
His mind felt frozen, and his body was heavy as stone. 'I must be dead.' He thought. 'I cannot move and it does not feel like I am breathing anymore. I must be dead.' Sadness came to him as he considered everything that was left unfinished. 'I am sorry Yahiko. I meant to come for you, my beloved son. Forgive me. Forgive me.' He moaned with the loss. 'Soujirou, my beautiful son. I failed you. I was not there to help you. Oh God, I failed you my son. Forgive me. Forgive me, my radiant son.' Tears fell from his closed eyes as his heart was seized by a grief he had never experienced. "Kaoru... " Silent sobs shook his body. 'My beautiful koishii. How will you survive now that I am gone? How much pain can you bare?' Hot tears slid over the curves of his face and dripped into his hair. 'How can I bare being separated from you? Even in death the pain is too great to endure.' "Kaoruuuu....." It was the wailing cry of a lost and desolate soul. It was the sound of ultimate grief and loss. It was the sound of hope dying.  
  
"Kenshin?" Kaoru's keenly attuned senses picked up a faint cry clinging to the cool breeze. "Misao, did you hear that?" Her voice was anxious as she grabbed her friend's arm.  
  
"Hear what?" Misao strained her ears listening for anything that Kaoru might have heard, but shook her head. "I am sorry, Kaoru, but I did not.... Wait!" Her pale blue eyes closed and cocked her head. The slim lithe body became completely still as she concentrated. Maybe she had heard something, but it was so quiet it was hard to tell so she put her mind into it and listened with her ninja ears. "There.... " She pointed to a far corner of the yard with a small straight finger. "I can hear something over there, but it is really faint."  
  
Kaoru looked in the direction Misao pointed. It was to their far left and behind them in a dense grassy and weeded area of the yard that was seldom used. "There?" She pointed to the unkempt corner. "Are you sure?" Misao nodded and Kaoru carefully changed places with her so she could stand up and investigate. "Take care of him, Misao." Sad blue eyes looked at the still body of Soujirou. "Keep him warm. His skin is so cold." Then she walked away to check out the overgrown corner.  
  
  
  
Hiko and Aoshi continued to search the courtyard in vain. There seemed to be no sign of Kenshin anywhere. No body or body parts were found anywhere near or around the burnt area. The anxiety factor of the two men was rising quickly. The fear neither of them was prepared to face yet hung in the air between them.   
  
Kenshin had burnt up inside his own flames.  
  
As Kaoru approached the corner of the yard Misao had pointed out to her, she began hearing strange whimpering and shuffling noises. There was also a great feeling of despair and grief that hung like a death shroud over the corner and the terrible sadness of it tore at her heart. She began to run.   
  
She saw the flaming red of his hair first, and then the faded pink of his old gi as they peeked through the spaces in the tall grass. "Kenshin!" She was at his side in a moment kneeling next to his huddled body. He was laying on his side in a fetal position with his knees drawn up to his chest and his chin tucked down. Both of his arms were wrapped around his head as if they were trying to protect it from some danger, and he was crying. Small childlike piteous sobs that caused his body to tremble like a leaf caught in a freezing winter rain. With an agonizeing cry, she gently lifted his top arm off and smoothed some of the wet tangled hair from his cheek. "Kenshin?" She spoke his name gently like a mother to her terrified child. "Kenshin, koishii can you hear me?" Kaoru leaned over his trembling body and, rolling him over, pulled him into her arms. She cradled him against the softness of her breasts like a small child, and gently stroking his hair, she pressed his face into the comforting curve of her neck. This was worse than that first day she found him having nightmares. Much, much worse. "Kenshin, koishii I am here. Can you feel me? Do you feel me holding you, my love? I am here with you. Please feel me holding you." Her soft lips pressed tender kisses against his hair and forehead while her arms pulled him closer against her. "Please feel me."  
  
Kenshin's mind was spinning. He could hear Kaoru's voice telling him she was here with him, and he could feel her strong arms holding him and pulling him close to her, but he could not understand how it could be true. He was dead, wasn't he? How can a dead man feel anything? He could smell the faint odors of Jasmine and the unique musky scent that was hers alone. If he was dead, how could he smell her, feel her, or hear her? Then he wondered....   
  
  
  
The free hand laying limp in Kenshin's lap twitched and stopped. A moment later it twitched again and again. Then it rose in jerky clumsy movements until it came to rest against the side of Kaoru's neck. "Koishii....?" His voice was barely above a whisper, but Kaoru heard him, and she felt the pressure of his hand against her throat. "Koishii, are you real?" He asked in a voice that was both broken and hopeful. "Are you real or am I really dead as I fear?"  
  
"Oh Kenshin." Kaoru lowered her arms enough that she could see his face and found it filled with grief, uncertainty, and hope. "You are not dead, my love." A tender loving hand wiped the moisture from his cheeks and smoothed the last of the stray strands of red from his beautiful violet eyes. "You are alive, Beloved, and I am here with you. I am here and so are you. We are still together." She gently kissed his forehead then rested hers against it. "You are not dead." A deep groan of relief was wrenched from him, and he sat up burying his face in her neck and cried her name. Pulling her tightly against his chest, he enfolded her in a fierce embrace.  
  
"I love you, Kaoru." It was all he could choke past the huge lump lodged in his throat.   
  
"I love you too, Kenshin." Kaoru wrapped her strong arms around his trembling body and held him gently rocking him back and forth trying to comfort him. Kenshin held on to her like she was his life line and he was never letting go.  
  
Thus they sat entwined for several long moments until Kenshin drew back and rubbed his nose against hers. He put a roughly calloused but very tender hand against her smooth cheek and stroked its outline with his thumb. Her skin was soft and fragile as the petals of the freshest rose to his touch. More than once she had proved to be his savior, and his rock. She was always there for him when he needed her the most, and his love for her grew deeper even though he had not thought it possible to love her more than he already did. Kaoru was his light, his angel, and his reason for living. Kenshin tilted his head slightly and leaned down to take her mouth into his. All of the fear and grief he had felt when he thought he had died and left her alone went into that kiss as well as all of the love in his heart. Kaoru moaned softly and returned his kiss with equal emotion, and Kenshin knew that somehow he had to find a way to survive the coming battles he knew waited for him. He could not leave her here alone, and he did not want to wait until she died to be with her again. They were supposed to be together, and he was going to do everything he could to make sure it happened that way.  
  
"He is alive, Hiko-san. Do you see, over there?" Aoshi was pointing toward the corner of the yard where he had spied Kenshin and Kaoru entwined in one another's arms. "The explosion of his own Fire must have thrown him that far." Incredible.  
  
"Baka-deshi." Hiko muttered under his breath with barely suppressed anger. "He never could handle his own strength." However; inside of his heart Hiko was silently weeping in relief. 'He is alive. My shining boy is still alive. Thank-you Kami-sama. Thank-you for my sons life.'  
  
Aoshi cocked an elegant black eyebrow as he sensed the conflicting emotions within the older man at his side. Hiko was obviously furious with Kenshin's overt use of his powerful ki in destroying the Horde, but there was a faint but definite string of emotional relief and gratitude that he was found safe. Was it... Fatherly releif?? Aoshi felt somewhat surprised, but kept his comments to himself. Instead he offered another observation.  
  
"It appears the effects of the opium are wearing off. I am becoming more aware of the conscious world. Everything is starting to clear up and take on solid shape and form. What about you, Hiko-san?"  
  
"I feel it as well. We should see about young Seta-san." The voice sounded as grave as the face looked.  
  
"Yes, indeed you are quite right. Kamiya-san seems to have things under control with Himura."  
  
"Indeed." Was all Hiko said before he and Aoshi moved towards the small crowd of people encircling two fallen bodies on the ground. "I do hope he is all right. I am not sure that Kenshin would be able to deal with the loss should he die because of this particular battle. They have grown quite close of late."  
  
"Very close, Hiko-san. It would be a great tragedy for Himura to lose either one of his sons, but to lose Seta-san so soon into their new relationship just as the bonding between them had taken root could cost him his new found resolve and confidence." Both men became thoughtful over this sad idea. "It could cost him the life of his other son as well."  
  
"Other son? You mean the boy."  
  
"Yes. If Himura were to fall into a deep grief at this critical time, he may not have the strength he would need to complete this terrible task ahead of him and save the boy."  
  
"And if Kenshin lost both of his sons...."  
  
"I do not know if even Kamiya-san would be enough to console him."  
  
"Then we just better make sure that none of that happens, Shinomori. Because I am in no mood to lose my son.... again." Hiko stomped off leaving a somewhat stunned Aoshi to follow in his wake. A ghost of a smile tugged at the ninja's usually stern mouth. So he had been right. The emotions he sensed in Hiko a few moments earlier had indeed been Fatherly. He could also tell by the angry tone those feelings were expressed in meant it was not a subject meant to be discussed or shared.... with anyone. Aoshi understood about secrets of the Heart. He had one himself, so keeping Hiko's secret quiet would be a simple enough duty. The ninja had gotten used to keeping secrets a long time ago. Especially those of his own.  
  
"Gramps?" One of Misao's hands rose to shade her eyes against the glare of the setting afternoon Sun. "I think the Opium is wearing off. Here comes Aoshi-sama and Hiko-san, and it looks like they can see us pretty well."  
  
Okina's old grey eyes turned and watched as the two dark haired warriors walked towards them. "Hmmm. It would seem you are right. They appear to be quite focused, and neither seems to have sustained any wounds." Turning his attention back to Soujirou, and he frowned. "I wish I could say the same for Seta-san." Misao's worried eyes slid over the pale ghostly features of one of the strongest men she had ever met. He looked so fragile and frail to her, and that did not fit with the man she knew he was.  
  
"What can we do, Gramps? He is so cold already I do not think pouring cold water on him is going to be helpful." Okina shook his head in agreement.  
  
"All we can do is wait, Misao. We have to wait and see if Seta-san can find his way back. We do not know how many or what sort of wounds he sustained in the battle which means we do not know what his mind believes has happened to his body." A wrinkled old hand gently touched the cold pale flesh of Soujirou's cheeks. "He does not have the coldness of death upon him yet, and we must cling to that hope and pray. As long as he still breaths and remains partially warm, there is still a chance for him to come back."  
  
"Okina," the old man and Misao both turned to aknowledge that rough voice. "Tell me, Okina, how is Seta-san? Will he live?" The hard planes of Hiko's face were creased with genuine concern as he knelt beside the Tenken.  
  
"I see the Opium has indeed worn off. Good. I need one of you to tell me what happened out there. I need to know what happened to Seta-san. What kind of a wound did he receive? How badly was he damaged?" An old hand thoughtfully patted Soujirou's chest.  
  
"I think I saw him best." Aoshi knelt next to Misao accidentally brushing his thigh against hers. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her blush and look away. Confusion filled his mind. 'Why would Misao blush just because I accidentally touched her leg?' He also noticed that she was becoming nervous as she started to fidget with her hands. Aoshi was even more confused, but chose to push the matter to the back of his mind. He would think on it later when he was alone, but now he needed to explain what happened when he and his three comrades entered the alternate reality.  
  
"First, you must understand what we faced in there. It was an enemy none of us expected to find, except perhaps Miko-san." He looked sadly at the unconscious form of Ishida. "He knew, but he did not know how to explain what he had seen. I am not certain I can either, but I will try." His face became even more serious than usual, but his eyes were not their usual stern flat jade. They glittered with a mixture of fear, astonishment, and fierce courage as he met the multitude of gazes around him. "We met in battle with a massive Horde of the undying. An army of decaying zombie corpses bent on one purpose." His voice dropped. "Reaching Miko-san."  
  
A collective gasp was heard around the group including Thian. "Are you certain?"  
  
"Absolutely. Even though the battle raged in all directions, each creature's ultimate pathway was leading it towards your brother, but we got in the way. We impeded their progress so they were forced to stop and fight."  
  
"How many?" Misao's quiet but strong voice made Aoshi pull his head back up.  
  
"Hundreds. Thousands maybe. It was hard to tell. They were everywhere, and coming from nowhere. Some of them seemed to rise out of the ground itself while others just appeared behind the failing edge of the others. They never seemed to stop, and it did not matter how many we killed. There were always hundreds of them left. It was a no-win battle. I believe we would have all been doomed if not for Himura."  
  
"I understand, Aoshi, but tell me how Seta-san was wounded." Okina's steadying hand on the young ninja's arm seemed to give him the energy he needed to continue his description of the battle.  
  
"Seta-san was magnificent. He was like a blazing comet the way he leapt and dodged a pathway of destruction through the Horde. Hundreds fell beneath his torch. Hundreds and hundreds of them were left screaming in flames in the wake of his speed and precision. He was the Tenken again, but his fighting ki was full of the bright gold and blue lights of the Heavens. He looked like a destroying angel." Hiko was nodding in agreement as Aoshi continued with his explaination. "I did not see how Seta-san was actually wounded. All I can tell you is about the injury I saw. When Seta-san was thrown onto the engowa, it looked as if his chest had been split open from here to here." He indicated a spot just above his heart and curving at an angle to end near his left hip. "He was covered with a great amount of blood, but I could not tell if he was still bleeding or not. If he is still unconscious, he mind must believe he is dying."  
  
"NO!" They all jumped at that fiercely shouted word. "I will not accept that! That I will not!" Kenshin pushed his way past Okina to look into the still pale face of the Tenken. "I will not allow it." He whispered as he touched the cool flesh of Soujirou's face. "Soujirou..." Kenshin's trembling arms lifted the limp body out of Misao's lap, and brought it to his chest where he cradled Soujirou's head against his shoulder. "I will not allow you to die, my son. I refuse to lose you like this not after... Not after we finally came to an understanding within our hearts. Not after that, but how do I reach you? How do I get to where you are? Where are you, Soujirou? Where?"  
  
Mournful violet eyes looked skyward and watched the changing shape of several fluffy white clouds as the wind passed through them. "You spoke about 'The way of the Wind'?" Arched brown eyebrows furrowed as Kenshin considered what Soujirou could have meant by that. "What is 'The way of the Wind'?" He searched his mind for any sort of a clue to this riddle that was Soujirou. "Kami-sama, please tell me, what is 'The way of the Wind'? Help me understand so I can save my son." Kenshin shut his eyes and concentrated allowing all of the anxiety and emotional upheaval to drain away from him. He reached down inside of himself and touched the sacred energy orbs that were his spirit-ki gifts from Hiko and Aoshi. Then he touched his own spirit-ki and felt the vitality of its flame burning bright and new. Earth. Water. Fire. "Wind?" His mind raced. 'Wind and air? Is that the answer?' Soujirou had been called 'The Sword of Heaven', the Tenken. His shicuchi was a speed faster that God-like speed, and it made him all but invisible when he used it. Was Soujirou's spirit-ki made up from the very essence of the Air? Was Soujirou the Wind??   
  
Kenshin's eyes flew open in pure amazement as the answer to nearly every question and problem about this whole horrible situation came to him. Earth. Water. Fire. Wind. The four elements of Mother Earth. Each element held a specific quality of power over the other three, but certain combinations of them could also be used to compliment and enhance one another to make a greater power.   
  
Water and Wind caused the terrible destructive force of the mighty Typhoons. Earth and Water mixed could bring about mud slides and floods of enormously devastating proportions. Fire coupled with Wind would sweep across an open field or through a community in a matter of minutes leaving behind only charred ground and death. Water and Fire created steam. Steam was being used to power the engines of Locomotives and great Ships, but it could also scorch and burn the flesh of anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in its path. Earth and Wind created funnel storms. Like the water based Typhoons, these storms raged across dry land eating and crushing anything within reach. They picked up great amounts of earth and other pieces debris flinging it all at such a  
  
catastrophic speed, pieces of wood had been found imbedded deep inside solid rock.   
  
Suddenly Kenshin knew how to save Yahiko, he knew how to stop Elsbeth and her unnatural plans for Japan and her people, and he knew how to reach Soujirou within his tortured Mind. He understood. He understood everything, but he knew in order to save Soujirou he would have to give him part of his ki to light the life spark. Just like Aoshi and Hiko had given him a part of theirs to heal him, but he was also wondering about something else. When it was finished, and he brought Soujirou back, was it possible that part of that powerful Wind ki would come with him? There was only one sure way to find out.   
  
"Aoshi, I need to know something from you, shin-yuu." The two met locked gazes. "When you and I joined minds and souls, and you gave me part of your ki to heal mine did a piece of my ki go back with you as we seperated?"   
  
"Yes, but not as much as I gave you. Your ki was far too damaged to offer me anything very substantial. Why do you ask?"  
  
"It took both you and my Master giving my part of your ki's to heal mine, but Soujirou's ki is not as badly damaged as that. I believe I can reach him where he is and bring him back without expending as great an effort as you did with me."  
  
"Are you certain?" Okina leaned over and looked directly into Kenshin's face. "If you are wrong, it could be disastrous for both of you."  
  
"I am certain. Soujirou will believe me. I am the only man alive he trusts without question. He will come back with me." Kenshin pulled the limp body of his adopted son closer to his chest and closed his eyes. Everyone around them became very quiet. Kaoru knelt next to him allowing her shoulder and hip to touch his so he would know she was there, then she closed her eyes and concentrated with him. This was their last hope of getting Soujirou back, and all their hopes and prayers rested on the strength of Kenshin's ability to reach inside the mind and soul of his adopted son. Would he be able to convince a mind frozen in death that its body was still very much alive?  
  
Kenshin whispered a passionate and fervent prayer as he let his mind begin to clear itself of all outside thought. "Kami-sama, help me help my son. Help me have the strength and conviction to show him his body lives and breathes still. Give me the courage to battle whatever demon's lie within the memories of his mind, and grant me the power to give a living spark to his dormant soul."  
  
******************  
  
The journey into Seta Soujirou's mind was a glittering kaleidoscope of swirling colors and flashing images of long past memories. As Kenshin drew closer to the core of this miraculous mind, he began to understand much more about his adopted son than he had known before.  
  
He saw Soujirou's mother die coughing and choking from a lung ailment that took her life in only a matter of days, while the man who was his father had been long dead already. He relived years and years of physical and emotional abuse by the family who were forced to take the orphaned child in. His own Uncle. He watched as a child of eight finally broke beneath the stress of the years of abuse, and slaughtered that same family on a night consumed by a violent storm. Years of education at the hands of Shisho Makoto were laid out before him in finite detail, and he understood how carefully the Tenken had been molded. He understood what it had taken to create one of the most skilled swordsmen in Japan, and then turn him into an untouchable and deadly assassin who felt neither fear nor remorse. Soujirou had been exploited. His natural abilities had been shaped and reshaped until they were the definition of perfection. Shishio's perfection. Soujirou's own life and needs had never really mattered.   
  
Soujirou's whole life passed before Kenshin as his conscious ki molded itself around the frozen and static mind of the other man. He could feel the fear, the anger, and... grief? Soujirou did not want to die. He wanted to live. He had a reason to live and the strength of that need was what had kept him holding on to whatever tiny sliver of life he had left. Kenshin pushed gently against the cold outer wall that surrounded Soujirou's carefully protected mind. It was solid as stone, but he was determined to get through so he warmed the fire of his ki slowly and continued to push against the barrier until he felt it start to give. Then he made a small opening just big enough for him to get through.  
  
Gently he eased himself inside the frozen cocoon of Soujiou's mind and slowly looked around with the flaming eyes of his soul. The place where in he stood appeared to be perfectly round like a sphere, and it was colored totally white. No corners, no walls, no floor. In the very center, laying on his side, rolled into a tight ball was Seta Soujirou. His body was bathed in pale blue light, and his skin looked almost translucent. He appeared dead with his hands folded over his heart, and Kenshin felt a shiver of unease crawl along his spine. "Please, do not let this be."  
  
His feet made no sound as he slid down the curve of the sphere and approached the pale body. Kenshin knelt carefully in front of Soujirou and tenderly wiped some of the soft brown hair off the cold forehead. "So cold. So pale." Leaning down close to his adopted son's face, he began to speak softly but clearly.  
  
"Seta Soujirou, can you hear my voice?" He traced the contours of the cold face with a warm hand. "Do you know my voice? Do you know who I am, my son?" Kenshin placed his other hand on top of the stiff folded hands on Soujirou's chest and pushed warmth slowly into his heart. "I am your Father. You are my son. My sotsu." Then with strong but gentle arms, Kenshin pulled Soujirou against the warmth of his chest and cradled the drooping head on his shoulder. "Listen to me, my beautiful son. Do you remember the day I welcomed you into my heart and made you my sotsu? Do you remember the things that I told you?" He began a slow rocking motion, and tenderly stroked the thick brownish-gold hair. "I told you I would always be there for you. I told you I would be your rock to lean upon when you were to weary to go any farther, and I am here. Lean on me. I told you I would be the shade that protects you from the heat of the Sun, and that I would help restore your strength. Here I am. Let me cover you. I told you I would be the water to quench your thirst when you felt all was lost and you could not go on, and here I am. Let me prove to you all is not lost." He lowered Soujirou's head so he could look into the pale still features.  
  
"Hear me, Seta Soujirou, adopted son of Himura Kenshin. You are not dead. Your body lives still as does your mind and soul. Feel the heart beating inside of your chest, and the air inside of your lungs." Kenshin cupped the cold pale cheek. "Open your eyes and see me and know you have not died. You are not wounded any longer. The Horde has been utterly destroyed and the earth cleansed of their foul existence. You are safe, beloved sotsu. I swear it is true. I swear it on my honor, my life, and my love for you." He pressed a soft kiss on Soujirou's forehead. "So, please open your eyes and come back with me. The living reality of the real world waits for us. It waits for you. Trust me, Soujirou. Trust me and let me lead you home." With that Kenshin lifted Soujirou's face up to his and he placed his mouth over his sons. Closing his eyes, he concentrated with all his heart and soul and pushed the great warmth of his ki into the cold body he held in his arms. "Breath Soujirou," his mind cried. "Breath. Breath. Live. Breath. Live. Breath. Live..."  
  
The silence inside the Aoiya courtyard had stretched into nearly an hour. Everyone was getting worried. Neither Kenshin nor Soujirou had moved a muscle in that time. Their friends only comfort was the continued even rise and fall of Kenshin's chest which indicated he was still alive and trying to help the unconscious man.  
  
Ishida moaned and rolled onto his side. "Where... What... I..." He was completely disoriented as he tried to set up. Thian helped him regain his balance, and Ishida covered his aching eyes with his hand. "I... I.. I feel strange. Thian?" He raised his head and looked around anxiously.  
  
"I am here, brother. Everything is all right now. Do you remember what happened?"  
  
"I..." His face creased with confused thought. "I... The fire." Brown eyes flew open wide with memory and terror. "Dear God! All that fire. What happened, Thian? Where in the hell did all that fire come from, and why aren't any of us burnt?"  
  
"Himura-san." Thian pointed at the intensely concentrating Kenshin. "The fire came from him. From his battle ki. I am not sure why none of us were not burned, but the fire destroyed the entire Horde. Their gone Ishida. They are completely annihilated from existence."  
  
"Truly?" The desperate hope in his voice was unmistakable.  
  
"Yes, they are truly gone. They can hunt you in your dreams no more. You are safe now, Ishida. You are safe." Thian hugged his brother close, and they shared a quiet prayer of thanks to God for Ishida's release from the Witches curse. Life could return to normal for him, or whatever sort of normal he could manage to rebuild after this damaging trauma to his mind and soul.  
  
Then all at once the quiet was shattered by the horrible sound of someone trying to breath through a throat that was too dry and too constricted. Cascading raspy coughing and choking noises rose high on a shrill note sounding more like the whistle of crane than a human being. Soujirou was convulsing violently in Kenshin's arms as he struggled for air. His throat was dry and his lungs were partially collapsed from the terrible fall he had taken onto the engowa. Kaoru grabbed him by the upper arms and yanked him into a sitting position as she called for some water.   
  
A small cup filled with water was miraculously produced from somewhere and Kaoru carefully tilted Soujirou's head back and opened his mouth enough to dribble a little of the water into it. He coughed and choked again, but managed to swallow so she dribbled a little more in. Another swallow then another. It was getting easier for him, and he was becoming more coherent. Pale white hands, that were trembling badly, rose to cover Kaoru's hands around the cup as he finished the last of the cool liquid it held. His whole body was trembling and shaking violently, and he leaned out over his knees wrapping his arms around himself. His head was dropped low.  
  
No one spoke. No one moved. No one touched him. Many moments passed before Soujirou pulled back far enough to look at his own chest. His blue-grey eyes were wide with uncertainty as his hand touched the solid wall of muscle and bone. "No blood?" A whispered thought from a stunned and terrified brain. "No wound?" The hand pulled his light blue gi open and felt the smooth intact flesh. "How.... I..." His hand rose to cover his forehead in exhaustion. "I do not understand. How... "  
  
"The wound was made in the world of the other reality, Soujirou. Do you remember going there using the Opium?" He nodded his head, and Kenshin continued. "You did not die. The wound is not real in this world, and you are not going to die. I would not allow it then.... My son, and I will not allow it now."  
  
Soujirou turned swiftly around and looked at the man behind him, and he found himself captured in the emotional intensity of dark violet eyes. "You..... you came for me didn't you?" Astonishment colored his small voice. "I remember a burning heat invading my chest. It made my heart start beating again, and then it lifted my body upwards as if I were no more than a small child and forced me to leave the place I was in. I could feel it pulling me along a path of blazing golden light and flaming heat, but I was not afraid. I was not burned by the heat, and then I opened my eyes and I was here. It was you, wasn't it? You came into my mind and brought me back." His eyes were huge shining blue oceans in his face.  
  
"Yes Soujirou. I brought you back, but I could not have if you did not already trust me with your life. You realize this don't you?" Kenshin's violet eyes were gentle and understanding in the face of the other mans bewilderment.  
  
"Yes. I understand that. What I do not understand is why?"  
  
"Why? Why what?"  
  
"Why did you come? Why risk so much of yourself to come after me? It was not a sensible thing for you to do. It was too soon after your own recovery. You put yourself at great risk by giving me such a large part of your ki." Soujirou hung his head. "I do not feel worthy of such a gift. If it had damaged you in any way, I could not have been able to live with that burden."  
  
Kenshin's gentle hands turned Soujirou around to face him. His face was stern but filled with love and protectiveness. "Listen to me, Seta Soujirou. I made you my son, and that is not a responsibility I take lightly. On the contrary, you have become a part of me. A part of my heart, a part of my soul, a part of the very fabric of my life. Look at me." Kenshin shook Soujirou's shoulders sharply until their eyes met. "You asked me why I came for you? Why I risked myself to save you? Do you truly not know, or are you simply too afraid to believe what you know is the truth?"   
  
"I... it seems... It is difficult... I do not know..." The timidly spoken words stuttered and tumbled from Soujirou's mouth as he tried to explain his reasons. "I cannot... "  
  
"Soujirou, my beloved and beautiful son, I love you. That is why I came for you. That is why I risked myself for you, and I would do it again and again if need be because I will forfeit my life long before I will allow you to lose yours. I will always come for you." His strong arms wrapped around the now tearful Soujirou and held him against his heart. "I will always come for you."  
  
"I have a Father." Soujirou's tremulous voice whispered into Kenshin's shoulder as his tears wet the faded material of the old pink gi. "I truly have a Father. Thank-you blessed Kami-sama. Thank-you for answering my prayers after so long." He relaxed against the red-haired man who held him so tightly, and burrowed his face into the strong neck as he put his arms around the well muscled body. "I love you too... Father." He whispered close to Kenshin's ear. Kenshin squeezed his eyes shut as tears threatened to fall, and buried his face in his son's hair.  
  
Kaoru listened to the emotional exchange between her lover and his adopted son, and a lump formed in her throat and tears burned her eyes. She leaned foward and wrapped her arms around both of them. "How I love both of you. I love you so much." But there was still a sadness in her heart. There was an empty place in their circle of love. There was someone missing from their family, and there was only one person that could fill that place and make the family Himura complete.  
  
Myojin Yahiko.  
  
  
  
***********  
  
Later that night, after everyone had gone to bed, Aoshi was still awake. He was dwelling on some of the more strange events of this very odd day. His mind traveled over and touched each of the people who slept within the walls of the Aoiya that night and their significance to his life.  
  
The members of the Onniwabanshuu and Okina. His friends and comrades for life. They were his family.   
  
Himura and Kamiya-san It was strange to him how deeply involved in their lives he had become in the last few weeks, but it was even more strange to him that he was pleased about it. Ever since his fusion with Himura Aoshi had looked at the man with different eyes. He had gained a knowledge about the soul and spirit of the Battousai that had stunned and even pained him. They were not so different, the two of them. When he had called Himura 'brother', he had not an idea how true that really was.  
  
Then came Kamiya-san. She was fast becoming Misao's irreplaceable companion and dearest friend. The two of them were constantly together at every opportunity that presented itself. They talked and laughed and cried about everything. Aoshi had finally been forced to see Kamiya-san as 'Kaoru', and it had been startling to him when he realized she was actually quite a beautiful woman.   
  
Then there was Misao. Sweet, lovely, innocent Misao. Aoshi closed his eyes against the memory of watching her walk away in the ninja clothes she continued to insist on wearing. The shorts bared her long pale legs to a mid thigh, and it was becoming increasingly hard for him not to touch the smooth skin that was always so close at hand.   
  
She was driving him insane with the confusing emotions and warring morals raging inside his heart and mind. Aoshi let himself drift back to the moment when his thigh lightly brushed hers, and she had blushed so profusely, looked away, and then started to fidget with her fingers unable to meet his glance. The scene replayed over and over in his head as he tried to figure out what had embarrassed her so badly she blushed, and got nervous sitting next to him. After all, she had known him her whole life. He was about ready to claim he had been mistaken about what he had seen when an interesting and completely destructive idea occurred to him.  
  
'Did she act that way because she is attracted to me?' The very idea of Misao being attracted to him was tantalizing enough that Aoshi knew he would never get a wink of sleep that night, and if he did, the dreams he had would not be anything he could or would share with anyone.  
  
' Kuso! Misao... Dammit!'  
  
******************  
  
Hiko had left the Aoiya after Soujirou had recovered enough to be considered out of danger. He had offered his compliments on an outstanding brilliant plan to Aoshi, then proceeded to chew Kenshin's ass for over extending his power and nearly burning up the whole fucking world. Then he said his usual grandiose 'Good-Bye's' and left without another word. Everyone assumed he was going back to his room or to the Police Station to talk to Saitoh, but he did neither. He had very recently come into possession of some very interesting information, and he needed to check it out quickly. There was almost no time left, and if he did not hurry, there would be no time left at all.  
  
Hiko pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and checked the address written on it. His sharp gaze located his current position, and he turned north and started walking. A cold brusk breeze caught at his white cloak and whipped it wildly about him. He grabbed it cursing to himself as he wrapped it tightly around him. "Too damn cold... Just too damn cold." Checking a street sign, after nearly seven blocks, he saw he was very close to his destination. His started to look for the building. By looking at the numbers it had to be within his immediate vicinity and he should find it within minutes. He squinted into the glare of the waning afternoon Sun, and hoped it was not too late to make a social call.  
  
It was a small cottage setting back from the road behind a larger apartment complex. It was painted white with yellow and red on the winged trim along the roof. The rice paper fusuma had been intricately designed with beautiful calligraphy images, painted roses and geisha's. Hiko felt a little bit of nervousness descend over his usually unflinching confidence. He wondered again for the five thousandth time if he should do this, or if he should just mind his own business. Straightening his broad shoulders, he gave the sho-ji a light knock and waited. Within only a second or two he heard a soft feminine voice ask who was there.  
  
"I am looking for someone." He answered.  
  
"Who?" The voice was close to the door now. It was a very pretty voice.  
  
"A woman. A woman who used to live near Mibu."  
  
"Mibu?" The door slid open a few inches and revealed a beautiful face surrounded by heavy chestnut colored hair that was hanging loose. Huge woeful brown eyes gazed at him suspiciously. "Why would you want to talk to her? That is if I know her. What is her name?"  
  
"Well, she may not be using it anymore because of certain ties she had during the Bakumatsa, but she was known then as Takagi Tokio. She was the wife of an officer in the Shinsengumi. His name was Hijame Saitoh. He was the leader of the fourth squad of the Shinsengumi, and was known as the Mibu Wolf because of his speed and precision with a katana."  
  
"He was also very good at killing people, or did you not discover that among his many talents when you read about him?" Her eyes were sad and she turned to walk away. "Come in if you wish. I am Takaagi Tokio. Or at least I was once a very long time ago when I still believed it was possible to be happy in this world." She indicated a place on the clean floor for him to sit. "I no longer believe that, Sir... "   
  
"Forgive me. I am Seijorou Hiko." He bowed respectfully to her and then seated himself on the smooth floor.  
  
"I see Seijorou-san, and tell me, are you a Samurai? I see you carry a sword. Of course, these days only the Police are allowed to carry swords unless you are a stubborn Samurai unwilling to relinquish yours." She favored him with an attractive and intelligent smile. He smiled in return. It was easy to see why Saitoh had married her. She was intelligent, sharp witted, and most likely sharp tongued as well. He also noted with an uncomfortable shift of his position, she was very beautiful in an exotic sort of way.  
  
"I am a very stubborn Samurai, Takagi-san. I am also a Master of the Sword."  
  
"Really," her delicate eyebrows rose mocking him gently. "And whose sword are you a Master of, Seijorou-kun?" Emerald eyes laughed as he noticed her subtle change in honorifics.   
  
"I am the thirteenth Master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu." He bowed again, and listened to a throaty laugh.  
  
"I am sorry, Seijorou-kun, but I have never had much patience with the pride and conceit of Samurai. I do not mean to sound disrespectful of your accomplishments or your skills, but I have never been able to abide all the bowing and insensible honorifics and trying to keep track of who is more important in the hierarchy of things. It is simply all so confusing and ridiculous for me." She waved her delicate hands in the air to emphasize her issue. "I just cannot understand why all of these Samurai can not just agree they are all great swordsmen, and leave it at that and forget all the other worthless hem-haying and posturing they do? It gets so tedious, you know. Truly it does."   
  
Hiko could no longer contain himself in the face of her blatant sarcasm and disdain, and he burst into laughter. "I gather you spent one to many evenings in boring political meetings with the Shinsengumi?"  
  
"Endless boredom and endless bowing before pompous fat Samurai who still believed that they were the masters of the world instead of the meaningless little pawns they really were."  
  
"I gather they did not impress you very much, Takagi-san." His eyes sparkled with suppressed humor. "I suppose I can see your point"  
  
"No, I have never been impressed by arrogance and conceit. I never thought it was becoming to a man who was supposed to represent the Honor of our country."  
  
Hiko was taken aback by her straight forward statement. He was also pointedly humbled in a way he had never been, to his utter disbelief, a blush of shame colored his tanned cheeks. Hiko freely admitted he was arrogant and conceited, but he had never had his Honor placed into question because of it. Did those two attributes prove to make him less the Warrior he had always believed himself to be?  
  
"I am sorry. I seem to have upset you. If I have, that was not my intention, Seijorou-san." She tactfully changed honorifics to a lesser but still respectful title.  
  
"It is all right I am not offended. It is just perhaps you have made me take a look at myself in a way, and I am not sure I like what I see."  
  
"You mustn't mind me, Seijorou-san. I have gotten callous and cynical over these last 12 years since the Bakumatsu and Meigi Fires. Everything bad in the country seemed to come together that night in one  
  
great explosion of flame, death, and destruction." Her lovely features melted into a mask of grief. "My life ended that night. I lost everything I had in this world that was worth living for."  
  
A great hand appeared out of nowhere and grasp Hiko about the chest and squeezed all the air from his lungs. What was she talking about? What had happened the night of the Fires? Had her family died? No, according to the information he had, her family still lived in the same village she grew up in. If not her family, then what? "What did you lose, Takagi-san?" He asked in a gentle tone.  
  
A small broken sob tumbled over her lips and she raised a hand to cover her suddenly quavering mouth. Her large brown eyes squeezed shut, but several unbidden tears escaped and slid down her pale cheeks only to drip off her chin and fall into her lap.   
  
Hiko was shocked as he watched Tokio crumble before his eyes. He was at a complete loss as to what to do. She was in obvious pain, but he did not know how to help her. "I am sorry, Takagi-san. I did not mean to stir up such painful memories. Please forgive me." The usually smooth conceited voice sounded truly contrite as his eyes took on a lost and bewildered look.  
  
"Oh, it is all right. You could not know how your innocently spoken words would affect me. I must not cry like this." She looked at him and tried to force a shaky smile as she wiped the wetness from her face. "Saitoh hated women's tears. He said they were a weapon women used to gain an unfair advantage over men."   
  
Hiko chuckled gently. He could understand that statement quite well especially in light of his response to Tokio's tears just now.   
  
"He said they were a weakness in women."  
  
"A weakness?" Now Hiko was confused. "If he called them a weapon, how could he also call them a weakness?"  
  
"Tears show a woman's frailties and inabilities to cope with the demands of a hard life."  
  
Black eyebrows narrowed thoughtfully. "Like the life of a wife to a high ranking officer of the Shinsengumi, who also happened to be one of the deadliest swordsmen in Japan?"  
  
"Yes. I had great difficulties coping with the dangers the duties of his position placed upon his life." A wistful look crossed her face. "I loved him very much, you know. I truly did. When I lost him to the Kyoto Fires, I wanted to die too, but I knew I had to keep going. Even if it was just to show him I was strong enough to cope with the hardest thing life had ever given me to bare."  
  
Shock and astonishment registered on Hiko's sharp features. "Saitoh died in the Kyoto Fires? Is that what you think happened to him?" His voice was incredulous.  
  
"It must be." More tears fell from her sad eyes, and she absently folded her hands in her lap. "He never came back home after that, and I never heard any news of his whereabouts from the Shinsengumi so I did not have much choice but to believe he was gone." The pale hands began to wring each other in despair. "He always came home, you see. Not very often, but he always came home. After the fires I never saw or heard of him again, and no one ever seemed to know anything about him. He was just.... gone."  
  
"I am so sorry, Takagi-san. You could not have been married very long before this happened."  
  
"Saitoh and I were married three years before the Bakumattsu." She sniffed and wiped her face. "Those were the happiest years of my life. Those are the memories I cling to now. The memories of Saitoh and I when we were young and in love, before he became the Mibu Wolf, before I lost him to the lure of the glory that was the Bakumatsu."   
  
Hiko's mind was racing and stumbling over the information Tokio had just given him. She had believed for 12 years that Saitoh was dead, and had no idea that the Captain of the Kyoto Police, one Fugita Gorou was in fact her husband. Hiko was not at all sure how to proceed now. This twist of the tale was completely unexpected, and left him at a standstill wondering what to do next.  
  
"Seijorou-san may I ask what brought you here today? Why were you looking for me?" Wide questioning brown eyes searched his face. "Is there something specific you wanted to know about my late-husband? If there is, I am afraid I will not be of much help to you. Unfortunately, I did not know very much about his life." The depth of her sadness was becoming more and more apparent with every word she spoke. She had suffered with this loss for a very long time.  
  
"Takagi-san," Hiko began tentatively. "It was something I came to ask you about, but now it appears I am in the position to provide some answers for you. However, I find myself unsure if it is right or even a good idea to tell you what I know. I do not want to be the one to cause you more pain."   
  
"What do you mean you have answers? Answers to what?" Her eyes narrowed. "Do you know what happened to my husband? Do you know what happened to Saitoh?!" One of her hands darted out and grabbed his wrist. "If you know anything, please tell me. I do not care what it is. Just tell me." Her gaze was urgent and pleading. "Please."  
  
A great sigh of apprehension escaped him. "You are such a beautiful woman, Takagi-san, and you have such a strong heart and spirit. I do not want to cause you pain. You have suffered enough in the last 12 years." He squeezed her small hand. "I think we should leave this matter where it is."  
  
"NO!" Tokio was on her knees staring Hiko right in the face. "I want to know whatever it is you know. I demand you tell me."  
  
"Even if it is more painful than what you already believe is the truth?"  
  
"Yes. I do not care. I just want to know what happened to him. Please tell me."  
  
"All right, but I do not think this is a good idea." Concerned emerald eyes took in the picture of her anxious expectant face, and he prayed to Kami-sama to help him do this the right way. "Takagi-san, Saitoh did not die in the Kyoto Fires." Her eyes grew wider and more confused.   
  
"Then where did he die?"   
  
"He.... he is not dead." Hiko watched her closely as the knowledge of what he had just told her sunk in. Her face turned grey, her eyes lost their focus, and Tokio fainted dead away falling into Hiko's arms. "I knew it was not a good idea." He said gently as he held the limp body of his friends'Wife.  
  
Tokio woke up a few moments later and found herself laying on her futon. Hiko had brought it out into the room where they had been talking and placed her on it. She felt a heavy fog clouding her mind and closed her eyes willing it to dissipate. One singular thought kept rolling around in her mind despite the fog. Saitoh was alive.  
  
Hiko knelt down in front of her with a glass of water in his hands. "Are you feeling better?" Concern colored his voice. "You fainted Takagi-san."  
  
"I did?" She could not remember fainting. "Strange. I have never fainted before." She gingerly raised up and leaned on an elbow so she could take the glass from him. The water felt good as it slid down her throat.  
  
"I heard you say my husband is alive. Is that true?" The voice was low but firm.  
  
"Yes. I told you that."  
  
"Where is he?"  
  
"Here, in Kyoto."  
  
"Here?" Her eyes were filled with shock as well as her face. "Impossible. If the Wolf were here in Kyoto, everyone would know."  
  
"He is no longer associated with that name. In a way, I suppose you were right when you said Hijame Saitoh died in the Kyoto Fires." Hiko helped Tokio to a sitting position. "After the end of the Bakumatsa, he became a spy for the Meiji Government's Internal Affairs Division. His cover name is Fujita Gorou."  
  
"Gorou Fujita?". Gasping in amazement, Tokio rose shakily to her feet and walked to the sho-ji and slid it open letting in a burst of fresh air. "He is the Captain of the Police isn't he?"  
  
"Yes. He is the same man."  
  
"You know him, don't you?"  
  
"Yes. We are.... friends." Hiko hovered over the word as he tried to find a way to explain he and Saitoh's relationship.  
  
Tokio chuckled softly. "Friends.... Saitoh had few friends. No one could abide his foul temper and sarcastic personality, however; I think I can see how the two of you might get along." She favored Hiko with a mocking glance. "You are both insufferably conceited and full of yourselves, but you would also brave a raging inferno to save a child from being burnt alive. Even if it were not your child." Her eyes had a deep bottomless look about them when she locked gazes with Hiko. "Two angry snapping wolves determined to be the Leader of the pack, yet willing to hunt together for the greater good when necessary. More like brothers than either are willing to admit because the admission would indicate a level of equality, and neither will accept that. However, a deep abiding respect will always exist between them, and they would fight to the death for the safety of each others life."  
  
Seigorou Hiko, the 13th Master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu felt a deep respect forming within his heart for this unique and intelligent woman. How well she knew Saitoh, and how well she knew Him. Every thing she had said about the two of them was completely true, and he admired her for seeing them so clearly and for accepting them for what they were. Deep within a place Hiko rarely went inside of himself, he realized that this could have been a woman he would have gladly shared his life with. The sadness he felt when he was near Kenshin and Kaoru surfaced, but in a much harsher feeling. This woman or someone like her was what he had missed having in his life. It was the absence of a relationship like this that left the gapping space in his heart and soul that he could never define. Now the answer stood in front of him as a flesh and blood woman. A beautiful woman. A woman who was married to a man he called friend, and could have called brother in different circumstance. Hiko felt a heavy sadness settle within him.  
  
"Take me to him, Seigorou-san. Take me to where he is."  
  
"What will you do if he is no longer the Hijame Saitoh you married? What if he does not want to see you? Have you thought of that, Takagi-san?"  
  
"Yes, I have thought of that. It does not matter. All I want is to look into his face one more time. I just want to see him for myself and know he lives. Then I can be at peace for the rest of my life." She looked at him entreatingly. "That is all I want, Seijorou-san. I do not expect anything more than that."  
  
His long legs carried him close to her side. "Then if that is what you wish, Takagi-san, I will take you there, but not until tomarrow. We will go tomorrow."   
  
"Tomorrow Seijorou-san." Her voice was soft but firm. "I will be ready when you come."  
  
"I will be here by the Noon hour.... My Lady Hijame." Hiko gently squeezed her shoulders then left the small white cottage. "Tomorrow. I hope it is a good day." 


	13. Brocken Promises and Sad Farewells

Glossary: tabi=split toe socks, fusuma=inside door, nani=what?, Hai=yes, sakobatou=reverse blade sword, okaeri=welcome, Bakumatsu=Revolution, busu=ugly woman, kirei=beautiful, ikka=home,   
  
Chapter 13  
  
  
  
Broken Promises and Sad Farewells  
  
The days were dwindling like a candle's burning flame as it ran out of wick and wax. Only two days remained until the Autumn Moon Festival, and Kenshin was no closer to finding Yahiko than he was when he first started looking. The tips about the strange goings on down on the  
  
waterfront had turned out to be nothing more than late night gambling among some of the more smarmy sailors, and there had been no further information reported since then. Time was quickly running out for the searchers just as it was running out for Myojin Yahiko.  
  
Nothing would stop the full moon from rising, and nothing would stop Elsbeth from opening the door to Hell unless they found her and stopped her. The air around the Aoiya was so full of prayers and entreaties to the Deities that the home of the Onniwabanshuu felt more like a shrine or a temple than a hideout for a group of professional ninja. Everyone inside was trying to come up with an idea for a new direction to take, but so far no one had thought of anything viable. Yahiko and the  
  
man in black seemed to have vanished into thin air.  
  
"How many places are there to hide in Kyoto? I mean, seriously how many places can you hide a person and not be seen by anybody. We have not had even one sighting of the man in black, and it is not like he would not stand out in the crowd." Misao plucked a loose string out of the toe of her white tabi. "We have every single member of the Onniwabanshuu in the city looking for him, and nobody has seen anyone who even come close to his description. I do not understand. It has  
  
been five days. If he is still in the city, he should have resurfaced by now."  
  
"I agree with you Misao, but if he is purposely keeping a low profile, then he would be taking great measures not to be seen." Aoshi was trying not to watch the play of muscles and tendons beneath the skin covering Misao's long pale legs as she leaned over to examine her split toe socks. "And as for how many places are there to hide in Kyoto? The whole city is filled with abandoned buildings, old ruins, and even tunnels and catacombs beneath the streets left over from the destruction of the Revolution. There are more places to hide in than there are people to hide them in."  
  
"I guess so, but don't you think that if this witch lady wants to use Yahiko for a human sacrifice to open a door to Hell that lasts forever, she would have to keep him somewhere that he would not only stay hidden, but she could keep him healthy?" Her sharp intelligent blue eyes  
  
sparked with thought. "It would have to be somewhere where he could move around even if it was only a little bit so she would not have to tie him up. Somewhere she could lock him in but still be able to get to him and feed him and stuff without worrying about him escaping." She looked  
  
pointedly at Aoshi. "What kind of a place could you put somebody in that would do all of that?"  
  
Aoshi narrowed his jade eyes and considered Misao's description of the kind of place Yahiko might be being kept in. It made good sense to him. Yahiko would have to be in good if not excellent physical condition for the ceremony in order to provide the energy and power needed to  
  
open a door of that magnitude. That made it all stand to reason that he would need to be hide in a place where he would not have to be restrained. A room or something like it just as Misao had said, but what sort of room would one use to hide a twelve year old boy? A very strong twelve year old boy who was more intelligent and cunning than most his age. It was a thought worth pondering.   
  
"You are right, Misao. It would have to be some sort of a room with a lock on the door, but it would have to be a strongly reinforced room with no windows to keep young Myojin-san inside. He is very cunning, and could most likely escape from a lessor prison." As Aoshi spoke the word, his eyes and face registered extreme shock. "Oh my!" He exclaimed in a shocked voice. "That is it! That is where they took him. It has to be. It would be the perfect place." He shook his head in stunned disbelief. "Why did we never consider it before? If I wanted to safe keep someone away from prying eyes, that is somewhere I might hide them." The expression on his face was incredulous. "I must tell Himura." He leapt to his feet, pulled open the fusuma, and trotted down  
  
the veranda to the room Kenshin and Kaoru were sharing. Misao jumped up and followed him.  
  
"What would be perfect?" She called after his retreating form. "Aoshi-sama? What did you think of?" She caught up to him when he stopped and gently knocked on the fusuma to Kenshin's room.   
  
"Nani?" Kenshin's voice answered.  
  
"Himura, it is Aoshi. May I speak to you for a moment?"  
  
"Hai, come in." Aoshi slowly slid the door open and stepping inside the room with Misao following. Kenshin was sitting on the floor polishing his sakabotou, and Kaoru was writing in her journal. Both of them looked up as the ninja entered.  
  
"Okaeri, Aoshi, Misao. Please come in and sit." Kesnhin waved them inside with a warm smile. He watched patiently as the two of them took seats on the wooden floor, and then asked them why they had come.  
  
"Misao and I have been discussing Myojin-san's possible whereabouts this morning." Kenshin frowned and saddened anger filled his eyes.  
  
"And what fruit did your discussion bare?" His voice betrayed the frustration of his feelings.  
  
"I believe I may know where the Lady might be keeping him." Kenshin and Kaoru both stared gapping at Aoshi. Kaoru slid quickly across the floor and sat next to Kenshin.  
  
"Are you serious, Aoshi?" Her voice was filled with anxious hope.   
  
"Yes. You know I am always serious, Kaoru-dono. Besides, I would never jest about such things as this. Myojin-san's whereabouts are far to important to all of us for it to be taken lightly."  
  
"Yes, yes of course. I am sorry." Kaoru apologized to the offended ninja then rolled her eyes at his remark when he looked away. Touchy.  
  
"Where do you think he is, Aoshi?" Kenshin had stopped rubbing the blade of his sword, and was concentrating on the man setting opposite him.   
  
"The underground prison cells beneath the ruins of the old Monastery. Do you remember, the one with the stained glass window. It burned in the Bakumatsu fires." Serious jade eyes met fierce violet. "Do you know the one I speak of?"  
  
"Yes, I know it. What makes you think he is there?"  
  
"Try to think like the Battousai for a moment." Kenshin frowned but nodded his head. "If you were in possession of a hostage of your worst enemy, and you wanted to hide him where no one would see or look, where would you put him to make certain no one saw him. Not even a ragged  
  
tramp on the street, an orphaned waif, a Prostitute, or a paid snitch. Where could you stash him that you could be absolutely certain not one person would see, hear, or stumble onto your prisoner?"  
  
Aoshi waited quietly while Kenshin considered his question thoughtfully with his Battousai's mind. It was an intriguing thought, and Kenshin began muttering quietly to himself as he pondered it. "Where could I hide someone and be absolutely certain that no one would ever see  
  
him or anyone connected to him or his prison?" The cross shaped scar on his left cheek twitched as he considered the area of the city the old Monastery was located in.   
  
Nearly two thirds of the buildings were either unoccupied or uninhabitable, which made the population count there very low. That automatically reduced the risk of being seen by over 75%, and the people who did live in that part of the city were very poor. They would not be that interested in the goings on of those around them. They would be far to absorbed with their own survival. There might be the occasional round of gossip about the strange richly dressed people, or the fine carriage and horses that might be seen driving by; however, no one would be concerned enough to take notice of what those people did, or  
  
where that carriage went. This fact reduced the risk of being seen, heard, or discovered to almost zero. There was a none to well known entrance to the catacombs behind the old Monastery in a dead end alley that had been used exclusively by the Shinsengumi during the Revolution. It was for the transfer of Political prisons because of its well- concealed site. It was the perfect entrance into the catacombs to use if one wanted to hide a hostage in the old underground prison cells without  
  
being seen.  
  
"I admit, it is a sound theory, and it is true. It would be more than difficult to establish a regular pattern of comings and goings into the prison because of the secrecy of the entrance to the catacombs that enters in behind the old Monastery." Aoshi looked surpised. "You did not know about an entrance that close to the prison itself?" Kenshin smiled apologetically. "Do not feel foolish, My Friend. There are few, if any who even know of that particular entrances existence. It was used  
  
strictly by the Shinsengumi during the War." Kenshin absently scratched his head. "The old prison definitely would be a way to incarcerate a hostage without bonds or fear of escape, and there would be very little risk of being discovered."  
  
"That was Misao's thought as well." Kenshin looked at Aoshi in bewilderment. "I mean, that she believes by allowing the hostage freedom of movement it would keep him in better physical condition. Thus he would stay healthier than a hostage who is kept bound. Thusly, he would be a better sacrifice." Aoshi sighed in relief as Kenshin nodded in understanding.  
  
"I would tend to agree with her. It would keep his blood flowing and muscles from wasting away." Violet eyes narrowed dangerously, and hands clenched into white fists as Kenshin's anger mounted. "But there are no windows or open air exchanges in that prison. Many prisoners died in there from suffocation because of lack of fresh air. If she does have him in there, I do hope she realizes she needs to leave the outer door open once in awhile so he does not chock to death from lack of breathable air." Kaoru studied Kenshin's profile feeling his anger climbing to a dangerous level. She laid a soothing hand on his tense shoulder, and he turned to look into her concerned face. "I am all right." He spoke reassuringly and covered her hand with his. "You mustn't worry."  
  
"It is almost time, isn't it." Her voice dropped low but remained clear and steady. Resolute deep blue eyes scanned his handsome features as if they were trying to memorize every detail from the tiny golden flecks in his amethyst eyes, to the faint scar along the right corner of his mouth. There was a great sadness reflected within those endless blue oceans, but there was also unconditional respect and love.  
  
"Yes. It is almost time. Do you still understand?" His hand reached out and touched her face tenderly. "Do you still know why I must leave you here?" Kenshin could feel himself slowly sinking into those beautiful cobalt blue oceans, but he did not fight the sensation. Instead, he embraced it and let himself be swept away.  
  
"Yes." Shadowed blue eyes dropped and her head fell to rest on his shoulder. "I understand, but that does not mean I have to agree with it or like it."  
  
"No. It does not mean either of those things. I only ask that you understand and do what I tell you too. Even if this is the only time in our lives you do. Please do what I am telling you too." He kissed the top of her head then rested his cheek against her hair. "I love you, Kaoru, and you must stay behind this time. I am not giving you a choice, and I will accept no arguments from you. You will stay here."  
  
"I will." The agreement was given in the tiniest whisper, but it was given. Kenshin put an arm around her and hugged her gently.  
  
"I love you, Kaoru. Never forget that. No matter what happens. I love you, and I swear I will come back."  
  
She looked up into his face. "How can you promise that, Kenshin? You most of all know what you are leaving to face. How can you make me that promise?"  
  
"Because I have promised myself a life with you. I want a life with you that is filled with love, laughter, the smell of your burnt cooking....and children." He kissed her nose. "Our children, Kaoru. I promised myself we would grow old together, and so we shall."  
  
"Kenshin... " Her arms hugged him with all their strength, and she hid her face in his neck.  
  
"Do you believe me?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Look at me, Kaoru. Look at me and tell me you believe me." Lifting her head out of the curve of his neck, Kenshin locked gazes with Kaoru's deep blue eyes.   
  
"I believe you, Kenshin." As her hands rose to cup his face, Kenshin fell into her eyes again. Kaoru pressed her forehead against his as she continued speaking. "I love you, and I believe you will come back. And when you do, I will be here waiting for you. I promise."   
  
Aoshi and Misao sat across from the lovers as they hugged and kissed each other. Both were staring at folded hands in their respective laps desperately trying not to look at one another. Aoshi was painfully aware of Misao and her close proximity to him. Misao on the other hand, was fighting the urge to wrap her arms around Aoshi and hug and kiss him like Kaoru was doing to Kenshin. Because, deep in her heart, she was just as frightened for his life as Kaoru was for Kenshin's, but neither of them moved an inch. They just sat side by side and stared at their hands.  
  
"Aoshi," Kenshin's voice pulled Aoshi out of his Misao-dream. "We should to check out your theory about the prison. The sooner the better."  
  
"Agreed. We should go now while there is still much of the day left. I will find Seta-san. I am certain he will want to join us." Aoshi climbed to his feet and bowed to Kenshin. "I will return  
  
when I find him, and then we will leave. Is that satisfactory?"  
  
"Of course. Aoshi?" Kenshin stopped the tall ninja before he could disappear out the door. "Thank-you... brother." Aoshi nodded and left with Misao following in his wake. "Nearly too late." he whispered as he stroked Kaoru's hair. "So close. Too close, maybe. Closing his eyes, he breathed a prayer against the crown of his beloved's head. "Kami-sama, bless us and grant us the speed of the mighty winged Eagle that we may cross this city on swift and sure feet. Give to our souls your blessings of strength, resolve, and purpose. May we bravely face whatever may stand in our path with dignity, honor, and courage." Kaoru muffled a sob against his chest. "Grant me this boon, Oh Blessed Kami. Let me find our Son. I beg this of you with all my heart and soul. Please let me find our Son... alive."   
  
  
  
*******************  
  
The scraping of the cell door rubbing against the rough stone floor woke him from his dream. It had been a very good dream. He dreamt he was back at the dojo with Kenshin and Kaoru. Sano, Megumi, Dr. Gensai, and the girls were all there too. Even Tae and Tsumbe.  
  
They were all setting around the outside table eating something that tasted better than fish and rice, and everybody was really happy. Kenshin and Kaoru were acting kind of funny. They were hugging and kissing each other and laughing a lot, and they were dressed in the nicest clothes he had ever seen either of them wear.   
  
He could remember seeing something blue glittering on Kaoru's finger as she danced around in the grass with Kenshin like a couple of Baka's. Hey! They were Married! That was it. It was a bit dinner party, and everybody was there to celebrate Kenshin and Kaoru's wedding.   
  
Yahiko jerked int a sitting position. Kenshin and Kaoru married?? Could that really happen? WOW! Imagine that. It would be like having a real family with real parents.  
  
"Hello, precious Boy." The smooth purring voice dragged him back to the reality of the dirty dark little cell he had been living in for the past several days. He was not sure how many had passed, but felt like it was at least four.   
  
A wolfish snarl curled his lips as he watched the beautiful green-eye woman draw closer to him carrying a burning torch. She was draped in a flaming red satin gown that showed a great deal more than it covered, and her pale flesh glowed in the torchlight. "How are you today? Tell me, are you looking forward to your party? It is coming sooooon, sooooon, sooooon." She pirouetted and sang the words in a breathy thin soprano voice. An evil wicked smile crossed her full lips making them look more like a bloody gash across her face than a mouth. Yahiko had decided the last time he had seen her, that she was not very pretty anyway. In fact, he thought she was uglier than both Kaoru and Misao, and that meant she was really UGLY.   
  
"Do you think you are trying to be funny, Lady? 'Cause if you are, you're not doing a very good job of it. In fact, you stink at it." Yahiko cleared his throat and spit a wad of phlegm on floor close to her red satin covered feet. Casually she looked down at it, and then favored him with a potent glare that would have cowed anyone else. Yahiko just smirked at her as he wiped his chin on the sleeve of his light green gi.  
  
"You are a foolish disgusting boy, aren't you." Glittering green eyes shimmered and changed to a liquid silver that moved like water in her face. " You think you are so smart and clever. Do you think any of this makes you look, or sound brave?" Mocking giggles tumbled over her red lips. "I do not think so. Soon you will not sound so brave. Very soon, and I will enjoy watching you break into little terrified pieces of quivering human waste." Her voice turned to a snarl. "I will see you afraid! I will!" Elsbeth's torch was throwing strange shadows around the small cell, and Yahiko's face was shifting and twisting itself into a wolfish snarl showing gritted teeth and flaming blood red eyes.  
  
"I am not afraid of you, Bitch." He snapped and stood up. Elsbeth watched him warily as he faced her straight on. "Personally, I think it is the other way around." His eyes were beginning to cast a faint light of their own into the dimness of the cell. "I think YOU are the Fool, and I think it is YOU who is afraid." Yahiko spit on the floor again. This time it was much closer to her feet, and then he met her boiling gaze boldly. Almost arrogantly. "Why don't you come over her closer  
  
to me? Huh, Lady? Why don't you ever get close enough to touch me?" Yahiko took a quick threatening step towards Elsbeth who found herself taking an unwanted step backwards. "I thought so." An evil mocking laugh tumbled from his snarling lips. "You are the one who is afraid." He laughed at her again. The wicked and delighted sound of a triumphant winning coupe. "Ha Ha! You are afraid of ME!"  
  
"Shut-up!you mealy mouthed lying Brat!." She spat viciously. "Or else I'll forget I need you, and slit your fucking throat right now!" She was breathing fast and heavy like she had been running, and her head was pounding with the adrenaline rush. "Do you know what I am? DO  
  
YOU?? You are such a stupid idiot. You would be more respectful if you understood anything, you stupid imbecilic toad" Her eyes grew huge and round in her face, and they were turning the strangest color of white. The features of her face where actually beginning to shift inside and around themselves. Elsbeth was changing shape right before Yahiko's eyes, and he was stunned, but he refused to give in to fear.  
  
"I know what you are!" He shouted back at her defiantly despite the chill that ran up his spine as he watched the changes shifting over her face like ripples in a pond. "You are Witch or something, but I am still not afraid of YOU!" His hands balled into white fists at his sides and he crouched into the battou-jusu stance, his eyes flaming brighter like bloody embers in his face. "You cannot touch me! I will never let you touch me! NEVER!" Inside of Yahiko's young body his soul and spirit began to burn with a violent rage. A pulsing energy ball started to form inside his chest, and it burned warmly with a foreign yet familiar heat. It felt as if it were trying to push out of his body. It found exits through his pores, eyes, mouth, and nose. It was such a primitive feeling within his soul, that it only registered on a very basic level within his mind, so he barely paid it any head at all. All he really understood was he was angry and afraid, and this woman-thing in front of  
  
him was to blame. He was not going to let her get away with that. He would make her pay. Somehow he was going to make her pay. The pulsing grew stronger and the rhythm faster as his emotions increased in intensity. The air around Yahiko became energized with a protective wall  
  
created by his spiritual ki, and it grew stronger and stronger as it followed in the wake of his emotional storm cloud.  
  
"A Witch you say?" Her voice dropped to a husky hollow tone, and she laughed making the most horrible sound Yahiko had heard out of her yet. "I am much more than just a ignorant witch, or haven't you figured that out yet, you stupid, stupid Boy? " Elsbeth took a purposeful step  
  
towards the raging boy-animal in front of her. "I am The Angel of Destruction." The teeth in her mouth elongated and became razor sharp fangs and daggers as she spoke, and the gash that was her mouth became a great gapping maw in her face. "I am the rightful heir to the Throne of Chaos." Her face stretched and her nose pushed outward into a small snout, and her ears grew upward into great points that pealed back from the sides of her head. "One day I will rule the land of Darkness, and no one will be able to stop me from doing anything I want. No one." The long beautiful waves of chestnut hair that hung past her waist twisted and whipped through the air as they changed into great long bushy ropes. Her face was close to his now, and she was smiling at him insanity showing clearly in those shimmering liquid eyes. The features of her once beautiful face had shifted into something resembling a creature looking part bat, part cat, and part demon. To say that she was hideous would be and understatement. Elsbeth Katsura had evolved into a living breathing nightmare, but Yahiko was way beyond feeling any kind of fear by then. He met the Beast that was the Devil's Whore face to face, eye to eye, toe to toe and he did not waver.  
  
"Geez Lady," he sneered. "If I had known you were such an ugly bitch, I would not have eaten whatever slop it was your lackey brought me this morning 'cause I really feel like puking all over your twisted ugly bat face about now. By the way, what happened to your hair? It sure turned into a stringy fucking mess, but considering what you look like, I guess it works out." Elsbeth screamed in wounded feminine outrage at his blatant mocking insults about her Dark Devine Form, and she rushed blindly towards him dropping her torch on the floor. Long nimble fingers tipped with deadly talon-like claws darted out to seize him by the throat with the intent of snapping that fragile neck, but suddenly he was no longer there. He had vanished.  
  
"Too slow, Busu! Dr. Gensai's granddaughters can move faster than your slow ugly ass." He was laughing at her... again. He was mocking her. The insolent Brat was mocking her. Enormous amounts of anger filled her soul, and she arched her neck shrieking in furious rage.   
  
"I will kill you! I am going to tear your heart out and drink your blood, and then I am going to rip your body to pieces and take your soul. Do you hear me? Do you hear me you fucking Brat!? You are going to die screaming and pissing your pants like a baby, and daddy will not be  
  
there to save you! No one is going to save you! No one! Do you hear me, precious? DO YOU HEAR ME?"  
  
"I think even dead people can hear you, Busu." Yahiko's voice was directly behind her, and she whirled around slashing blindly with her claws only to find that he had disappeared again. "You really are a slow-assed bitch aren't you. I bet I could beat you with one arm tied behind my back. Ha ha ha ha." The voice was close. It almost sounded like it was right next to her, but before Elsbeth could turn in that direction, she was suddenly punched hard and sharp in the center of her  
  
back.   
  
"Oooooff!" Elsbeth went flying through the air landing near the open cell door where Raul stood, his mouth gapping open in shock and disbelief. She lay on the dirty floor in a heap of dusty red satin, stunned for several long seconds before struggling in an ungainly fashion to her feet. When Raul tried to help her up, she furiously shook him off, and one look at her face made him take several steps back. If she did not want his help, that was fine with him.   
  
Elsbeth had returned to her full human form, but the mask of fury on her face was horrible to behold. She stood trembling with barely contained rage, her small hands clenched into fists at her sides, her long chestnut hair hanging in a tangled mass all about her, and her red satin dress hung off one shoulder threatening to spill her breasts free of the low bodice. As she slowly turned around, her head was dipped low at an attack angle, the look in her shimmering silver eyes was lethal, and it was trained on the Wildling in the cell behind her. The torch lay where she had dropped it in the middle of the floor, and it threw its golden yellow light across the small cell.   
  
The boy-animal remained crouched in the battou-jusu as if he expected her to come back. His flaming bloody eyes had not dimmed, but appeared to have brightened. Their reddish stain could be seen even more clearly on the floor around him. Elsbeth cocked her head cautiously. She  
  
could feel the power of his ki pulsing around the small cell, and she moaned uncontrollably. The texture of the energy was intoxicating to her. She wanted to bathe in it, revel in it, consume it, but this was not the time. Something else had to be done. The hierarchy of power needed to be established.  
  
"How dare you touch me." Elsbeth hissed between clenched teeth. "No one touches me unless I allow it. No one." She entered the center of the cell again, moving gracefully and with purpose like a cat stalking a mouse. "The last person who touched me without permission was  
  
punished severely." She circled Yahiko to his left, and he moved with her never taking his eyes off her. "I cut off all of his fingers, had them cooked, and made him eat them." Her smiled warmed at the memory. "After that, he could not touch anyone. I think he learned his lesson. Don't you?"  
  
"I would like to cut off your head and feed it to the sharks. Do you think that would teach you a lesson?" It was a warning growl that told her she was too close for his liking. She smiled with satisfaction and moved an inch closer.  
  
"I do not think you will ever get that close to me again, Precious." Her eyes narrowed into silver slits, and suddenly her hand shot out towards him as she cried in a loud voice. "I bind you from raising your hand against me! I bind you from approaching me! I bind you to my will and my will alone!" She closed her eyes and felt the weight of her power stretched forward to consume the boy, but then something was wrong.   
  
Something was blocking her way, and to her shock it was beginning to push her back. Elsbeth frantically reached down deeper into her power core for more strength and pushed harder against the blocking force. When she felt the blockage giving way beneath her increased strength, she  
  
triumphantly pushed onward toward her goal. Then everything went terribly wrong.  
  
Elsbeths silver-green eyes flew open in stunned shock as white hot pain scorched across her mind. Yahiko stood before her in the same stance as he had been when she closed her eyes, but there was something very different about him. The snarl on his face had grown into a fierce grimace of gritted teeth and twitching cheeks, and the cords in his neck were standing out like fish bones. The muscles in both of his forearms were so taut every separation and attachment could be seen as he curled his fists towards his chest, but it was the change in his eyes that shocked her. They were no longer the brilliant bloody red they had been. They more closely resembled the color of new cherries. They were bright, and glowing a brilliant pale reddish-pink that filled the cell with enough light to illuminate the cracks in the walls. The level of power that emanated from him was terrific, and it was pushing her spell back  
  
at her, and creating a terrible crushing pain inside her head.  
  
"Impossible." She whispered. "Impossible." Instinctively her arms crossed in front of her face trying to protect herself from the impending death she knew was coming. A high pitched, hollow scream split the silence inside the cell as she felt the bones in her skull giving way beneath the crushing pressure, and then Raul was there thumping the boy on the head with the hilt of his short blade knocking him unconscious. Yahiko collapsed to the floor soundlessly. Both woman and man stood over him in disbelieving astonishment.  
  
"What in the hell is he, Raul? He had enough strength to push me back. No one can do that. What is HE?" Her voice quavered with uncertainty. For the first time in her life, Elsbeth Katsura felt a twinge of true fear.  
  
"I do not know, My Lady. Perhaps we should dispose of him and try to find another boy before the moon comes out."  
  
"NO!" She slapped Raul hard across the face. "I do not want another boy. He is perfect." Her eyes glittered dangerously. "He is absolutely perfect. With this much energy and power within his soul the doorway will stay open forever. Forever Raul. Forever and ever." Her face turned dreamy as her thoughts drifted faraway. "It will not be long now, My Love." The words were spoken in the most loving tone, and Elsbeth looked like a young girl deeply in love and very happy.   
  
Raul swallowed hard to get rid of the lump in his throat. Two days. Two days until the end of the world as everyone knew it. Part of him hoped he was dead by then.  
  
  
  
*******************  
  
"Did you feel that, Father?" Soujirou stopped walking, cocked his head to one side, and closed his eyes in concentration. "I distinctly felt a tremendous surge of power just now."  
  
"So did I." Kenshin looked around to note what part of the city they were in. "It was very strong. I have never felt it before."  
  
"Nor have I. " Aoshi stood next to Soujirou. "It was a very strange power. Almost like what touching an exploding firecracker would feel like, or being caught with in the explosion of fireworks." An speculative look crossed Aoshi's thin face." Tell me, if indeed Yahiko is the Wildling we believe him to be, what would his ki feel like? And more importantly, what would it feel like if it were fully unleashed?"  
  
"That is a good question." Kenshin srcratched his head absently. "No one has ever really had a chance to notice Yahiko's ki before. At least no one that I know of. I must admit I never looked for it when he was training at the dojo, and Kaoru does not know how to feel ki's."  
  
"True," Aoshi rubbed his chin thoughfully. "I do not think anyone at the Aoiya noticed it either during the fight with the Juppon gottena."  
  
"So I guess that means we are looking for something none of us have ever felt before." Dammit! Kenshin cursed to himself. "What if we walk right over it and not notice it? We might walk right by Yahiko and realize it."  
  
"Something tells me that will not happen." Soujirou smilled. "If little brother is indeed a Wildling, then his ki would be so foreign and so extreme to us there would be no mistaking it for what it is. It would register so big to us we would know it. Trust me, Father."  
  
"You really think so, sotsu?" Kenshin could not help his worry or his fear.  
  
"Yes. In fact, I think that is what we just felt."  
  
"Nani?? What makes you think that?" Kenshin met Soujirou's gaze.  
  
"Well, the surge in power and energy was very defiantly foreign and it was very, very strong, but it was also very irregular. Did you notice?" Kenshin and Aoshi looked at each for a moment then nodded. "Yahiko has no idea how to control his ki. He may not even realize that he has one yet which would make it a very dangerous source of power for him. It would also be a very dangerous weapon if inflicted upon anyone around him."  
  
"Anyone? Literally meaning 'anyone'." Worry wrinkled Kenshin's brow. "A naturally born ki would be unaturally powerful just like the speed of your shicuchi, would not it?" Kenshin looked directly at Soujirou who nodded.  
  
"Yes, I think so." Aoshi nodded and grew thoughtful. "Are you wondering about his range, Kenshin? Or are you thinking of something else?"  
  
"At the moment I am thinking of his range. The prison is almost directly beneath us, but it is at least 60 feet under ground. If his ki can reach us from that far away, and if it is as strong as Soujrou's shicushi is fast, then he may have the ability to destroy and entire city block." Kenshin met the dark jade eyes of his ki brother and the blue-grey of his son. The three of them became very quiet.  
  
"Do you know how dangerous he could really be especially since he does not know how to control it?" Jade eyes narrowed in speclation. "The shock waves themselves could possibly be the source of wide spread devistation." Thin black brows rose as Aoshi's face took on a look of stunned awe. "Incredible. What do you suppose he could do if he were to focus in on one person?"  
  
"In control or out of control?" Kenshin looked like he really did not want to answer that question.  
  
"Out of control." Aoshi and Soujrou both looked at Kenshin waiting for his answer.  
  
Violet eyes narrowed to mere slits and he looked away. "I should think total annihilation."  
  
"What exactly do you mean 'total annhilation'? I realize the person would very likely be killed by the force, but I feel you think it would be much more than that. I had thoughts at one time that he might have the ability to explode or crush an enemies internal organs. Is this your thought as well?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then please explain."  
  
"You are talking about fire crackers, Aoshi. I am talking about dynamite." Kenshin locked eyes with the tall ninja and watched as his metaphoric explanation sank in.   
  
"Dear God!" Aoshi went pale.  
  
"Father.... " Soujirou did not look much better than Aoshi. "You are talking about little brother being able to cause bodies to explode from the inside out. Like a bomb?"  
  
"Something like that." Kenshin's voice sounded dry and flat. "It seems to make sense to me. If his gift is as strong as yours, then his limits are endless. He may be capable of anything."  
  
"Especially while the ki remains uncontrolled." Aoshi whispered in awe. "It's limits would be the boundaries of his fury, and other emotions. The more out of control and powerful his emotions become, the more powerful the force and range of his ki. Fear, Fury, Rage, Grief. Any of the stronger emotions could cause catastrophic consequences depending where he directed them and at whom."  
  
"Amazing." Soujirou touched the hilt of the sword he now wore on his hip. "It must be a terrible thing to live with. Especially if he does not know it is there."  
  
"Why do you say that, Seta-san?"  
  
"The burden of carrying it with you every day. The fear of yourself. Being afraid of your own temper and what you could do if you get mad. Not being able to understand why you do the thing's you do. I would call that a terrible burden to live with. Would not you?"  
  
Aoshi dropped his eyes and studied a spot on the toe of his boot. "I had not thought of it in that particular context, Seta-san. I believe you are right. It would be a burden." He looked at Kenshin's worried face. "We need to find him quickly."  
  
"Soujirou, would you recognize that energy signature if you felt it again?"  
  
"Yes, Father. It was very clear. I would know it if it came to me again."  
  
"All right. Then lets go. The Monastery is only a little bit farther, and we can use the alley entrance in the back." The three men, all carrying weapons; Kenshin had his sakabatou, Aoshi his double kodachi, and Soujirou once more carried his long blade Katana, strode purposefully down the sparsely populated street. The few people there watched them, but no one took notice. They passed by unseen by evil eyes.  
  
  
  
********************  
  
"Make sure that door is locked very tightly, Raul. I do not want anyone even accidentally stumbling onto it, do you understand me?" Elsbeths voice was harsh and filled with anxiety. This had been a long day for her. Nothing had gone right since she came to see her precious boy, but then nothing seemed to have gone right since the day Raul had taken him. However, she refused to relinquish her grasp on him. His incredible amount of spirit energy was too perfect for her needs. It was just the right ingredient to finish the incantation that would open the door between Earth and Hell, and keep it open... forever, and she would not give him up.  
  
"Yes, My Lady. I will make sure the door is tightly locked. Are you certain you do not want me to help you into the carriage first?"  
  
"No. I can manage on my own, this time. You take care of the door. I will be fine, just hurry."  
  
"Yes Ma'am." He helped her out the large wooden door then watched as she trudged up the steep stairway. Raul heaved a great sigh of relief as he watched her disappeared around the first of several turns, and walked back to the prison to feed the brat and lock everything back up.   
  
  
  
********************  
  
"You have to be very careful when you go down the stairway. It is made of small stones, and it is very steep. More than one Monk lost his life over the years falling down those treacherous steps. A few Shinsengumi as well." Kenshin favored his two companions with a bland smile. "So watch your step." They were walking past what was left of the Monastery. Once it had stood as a great icon of beauty within the city. The large window had been hand painted and was heralded to  
  
have been an irreplaceable work of art. It was lost to the people of Kyoto since the great fires of the Bakumatsu, and now lived only in the memories of those who had lived through the great fires that had destroyed most of the city.  
  
Kenshin looked up as he walked past the burnt out building. He remembered coming here to hide from the Shinsengumi many times after an assassination, and he remembered that window. It had depicted The Pathway to Spiritual Enlightenment. The Pathway to Heaven. The Road to  
  
Buddha. It had always both intrigued and irritated him whenever he looked at it. Its beauty was undeniable, but the promise of peace and harmony it gave was a lie in his heart. He had never believed very much in the Path of Enlightenment. Being the Battousai had destroyed many of those  
  
beliefs and hopes within him. With each life he took, a little bit more of his soul had died until there was not enough of it left to walk down the Path so there was no reason to believe anymore. Besides, he had rationalized to himself, if God promised Peace and Harmony, how could he allow something as horrible as the Revolution to happen? Kenshin had blamed a lot of the blood shed on God back then. If Buddha cared about his children, he would help them, but instead he let them suffer and die  
  
screaming in puddles of blood and filth. The Battousai had cursed God. He had cursed all of the Gods for the Revolution, and he had cursed them for the blood on his hands and the guilt in his heart.  
  
'Not any more.' He thought gently as he summoned the memory of that great and beautiful window. "God is not responsible for war and the death and the destruction it brings. Nor is he responsible for the sorrow and grief that follow in its wake. Men are responsible. Men make war,  
  
and only men can bring a stop to it. Forgive me, Kami-sama. I was a foolish tortured man who knew only pain and suffering himself. Thank-you for showing me the light at last.'  
  
"You know this place, Father?" Soujirou had moved to walk next to Kenshin.  
  
"Yes. I know it well. It was often a sanctuary for me during the Bakumatsu."  
  
"I never saw the Window. It was destroyed before I came to Kyoto, but I have heard it was beautiful. A miracle to behold some say."  
  
"It was most beautiful, but a miracle? I do not know if I would call it a miracle, but it did make an impression on me back then." A sardonic smile crossed his face.  
  
Soujirou studied the look on Kenshin's face, and found it confusing. "What sort of an impression? Your face speaks volumes, but of what I am not sure." A chuckle bubbled out of his mouth.  
  
"You noticed that did you." Kenshin laughed. "It is actually quite an irony. The Battousai hiding in a place of Peace while he is being hunted by a pack of hungry wolves after he just assassinated a key member of the Shogunate."  
  
"Hmmmm. I see your point. It is quite ironic. I suppose you were not a very religious man either." They both laughed. Aoshi allowed a rare smile to curl his handsome mouth as his listened to their conversation.  
  
"No, Soujirou. I was not a religious man. Quite the opposite if the truth be told. In fact, there was a point in my time as the Battousai that I blamed God for the Bakumatsu. I felt if Buddha  
  
really loved his children, he would put a stop to all the bloodshed and sorrow, but since he did not, the War was as much his fault as it was mans."  
  
"A twisted sad point of view, my brother. Although I felt much the same way when I stopped believing in God and prayers." Kenshin and Soujirou stopped at turned to look back at Aoshi.  
  
"How old were you?" Kenshin asked. "I was almost 16."  
  
"I was a little older. Nearly 18 when I lost my faith. You would have been into your 20's by then, and long into your wanderings. I was a member of the personal body guards to a very rich and very cruel Drug Lord. It was before I joined the Onniwabanshuu. I was forced to watch him do unspeakable things to people from all walks of life. Women, children, the old, the young. It did not matter to him. He was a masochist and the more pain he could inflict upon human flesh the more pleasure he felt." The features of Aoshi's face had turned cold and stern. He looked frozen. "I learned not to feel anything while I guarded him, otherwise I would have lost my mind listening to the screams and watching all of the gore. He was an animal." Jade eyes, clear as green ice locked with the steadying gaze of Kenshin's strong violet. "I killed him one day." Soujirou sucked in a surprised breath but said nothing.  
  
"In his bed?" Kenshin held Aoshi's eyes.  
  
"No, but I thought about it. I decided I did not want to ruin the bedding. The servants had served beneath years and years of abuse from him. I did not want them to have to clean up his blood and filth as well."  
  
"So, where did you do it?"  
  
"We had gone hunting for Pheasant. He liked Pheasant and prided himself on being a crack shot with a rifle. I had become his favorite over the years because I never said anything. I just did everything he asked of me without question, and I did it very well. I was always the one he took hunting with him because I was the one he trusted the most."  
  
"I see."  
  
"He had just shot a very large bird. We dismounted our horses and went to inspect his kill. He was boasting and bragging as usual about his prowess and skill with the rifle when it happened."  
  
"Did you breakdown?"  
  
"I suppose you could describe it that way." Aoshi's jade eyes took on an almost glassy appearance as he remembered that day long ago. "I looked into his fat red face, and all I could see was a disgusting slug that needed to be squashed beneath my boot. So I drew my sword and cut off his head. I had thought of killing him so many times, but I had never actually followed through with it."  
  
"What made this time different, Aoshi?" Kenshin put his hand on Aoshi's shoulder.  
  
"I was sworn to protect his life, you see. Sworn to give my life for his without question, and I would have if the situation had ever occurred. It was my duty, and I would have kept it. That was the honorable thing to do. You do understand what I am trying to say... Himura?" Kenshin nodded. "I would have always abided by my honor to protect his life with my own, but I had never sworn I would not kill him if the situation presented itself. I stood looking into his tiny pig eyes and I knew I could not allow him to live any longer. I had prayed night after night for God to strike him dead and free me from that nightmare, but every morning I woke up and he was still alive and I was still there. I suddenly realized there was no God, and if he was going to die, I was going to have to kill him myself." Aoshi broke contact with Kenshin's eyes to look into the azure sky. "So I did, without regret or remorse, and I wiped my bloody katana off on his blue  
  
velvet gi. Then I mounted my horse and rode away without ever looking back."  
  
"What happened after that?"  
  
"Nothing. We were in a very densely wooded area, and it was full of wolves. His body was never found. Neither of us ever returned to the Mansion, and no trace of either of us was ever discovered. We were both presumed dead. His drug syndicate passed to his son who ran it into ruin within the year. No one ever came looking for me. I really do not think anyone cared that he was gone."  
  
"Is that when you joined the Onniwanbanshuu?" Violet eyes studied the stony profile of the dark ninja.  
  
"Yes. I was looking for something to do with myself, and I met Okina one night in a bar. Actually in the middle of a bar fight. He came and pulled me out before I had my head bashed in. I never could hold my sake. I woke up the next day with a hangover and a proposition. Okina  
  
recognized me. He had seen me a few years earlier during one of the Dojo fights my old employer used to host. Okina had been there as a bodyguard for someone else. I was fighting. The Old Man always made me fight because I always won."  
  
"It is good Okina found you, Aoshi. It is good you are here with the Onniwabanshuu. If you were not, you would not be here with me and Soujirou today, and you would have not been there to help pull me out of hells pit either. I am sad for what happened in your life, but I am very  
  
glad you are here... My brother."  
  
"Thank-you Himura. It is important to me to hear you say that." He met Kenshin's understanding gaze and offered a small half smile. "Let us go find your son, shin-yuu." The three turned and resumed their path towards the alley walking in relative silence.  
  
"It is very strange and sad to me." Soujirou's soft cultured voice broke the silence. "But it would seem not one out of the three of us have anything of joy or value to bring with us from our past except our talents as swordsmen." His blue-grey eyes looked straight forward as did his two companions. "I wonder why that is? And I wonder why in this time of extreme peril we have come together as a family to fight for everything that is pure and clean in this world? Why would God choose three such lost and blood stained souls to be pulled out of hell, and given a second chance to live a life of peace and love, and why was it we three who were chosen?" His words trailed off as he turned introspective. They walked on a few more moments and then Kenshin spoke in a low and thoughtful tone.   
  
"I have a theory if you would like to hear it."  
  
"I would." The two other men spoke in unison together.  
  
"It has to do with our individual ki's," Kenshin rested his hand on the hilt of the sword. As he drew in a breath to continue, they turned the corner into the alley, and came to a dead stop. Parked close to the abandoned building was the same carriage Kenshin had seen the day they were all standing outside of the Police Station. "What the... " They swiftly approached the carriage, and found it empty. The two perfectly matched black horses harnessed to it were well taken care of, and well trained. They stood docilely as the men inspected them. "I have seen this carriage before."  
  
"Where? When?" Aoshi's brows were knitted in confused concern. He had a very bad feeling about this whole situation. Something felt.... wrong about it.  
  
"That day Kaoru and I were at the Police Station when we met Thian and Ishida. We were standing outside and it drove past us. I remember it because it gave me a very odd feeling when it went by."  
  
"What kind of a feeling?" The level of Aoshi's concern was rising, and Soujirou was starting to look around uneasily.  
  
"I am not sure really. It just made me feel very uneasy, and I had the strangest feeling I would be seeing it again. And now I have." Narrow purple eyes met Aoshi's worried jade. "I have a bad feeling about this." Kenshin looked around the dead end alley.  
  
"Father... someone is coming." Soujirou's voice was a whispered hiss as he crouched down low resting his had on the hilt of his katana. "The stairs." He indicated with a movement of his head. "They are coming up the stairs."  
  
"Get behind the carriage." Kenshin ordered everyone in a fierce whisper, and they dove behind the baggage compartment at the rear. Carefully each of them took a stance so that he could see around the edge and watch the stairway. Faint rustling sounds could be heard as well as labored breathing, and it was becoming louder. Then, to his absolute horror, Kenshin watched a woman step out of the stairwell and shake out the full skirt of her flaming red satin dress.   
  
Her long chestnut hair was a riotous mess that hung down her back and past her waist. The gown was torn over the left shoulder, and the already scant bodice was threatening to dump her breasts out of its less than adequate confines. There was evidence of dirt on the once beautiful dress and on her as well. All of this surprised Kenshin because this was a woman who was more meticulous about her appearance that anything else. 'I wonder what happened?' He thought to himself. 'Whatever it was, she came out on the wrong end of the deal.' For some reason that brought a wicked smile to his face.  
  
"Dammit!" They heard her curse as she took in the damage to her dress. "Fucking kid." Kenshin and Soujirou exchanged a meaningful look. Did that mean they were right and Yahiko really was here? Their eyes were drawn back to her when she started talking again. "Fucking little  
  
animal. Next time I'll claw his bloody eyes out, I swear I will. Who in the hell does he think he is screwing around with?" She jerked and yanked at the torn fabric until the ruined piece came free. All three men were holding their breath waiting to see if she was going to stay in the dress or not. In the end, the dress held. There was a collective sigh of relief.  
  
"How did he do that?" She had started to walk in a circle around the small space between the carriage and the stairwell. "I do not understand how he could have possibly had enough energy to push me back. Not only did he push me back, but he hurt me, the little Bastard." The feeling of evil that pulsed around her was making Kenshin sick to his stomach. It was the same feeling he had gotten up on the mountain. He just hoped he did not vomit right here. "He cannot be stronger than  
  
me. I will not accept that. I will not." Her voice quavered and Kenshin sensed fear. Interesting. That was when he decided to move, and slipped out from behind the carriage without a sound.  
  
"Hello, Elsbeth..." He let his voice slide smoothly from his throat so that it revealed nothing of his emotions, and he was satisfied to see her stop in her tracks and freeze like an ice statue. "It has been many years, but you are as beautiful as ever you were."  
  
Elsbeth felt the breath in her lungs freeze and her heart stop beating. She could not breath, she could not move, she could not think. How could it be? He was right behind her. She knew it was him. That was a voice she would never, could never forget. A thousand memories flew through her mind in that split second. Memories of laughter, security, and making love. But the worst memory was the memory of how much they had loved each other. His pain filled face was still deeply imprinted on her mind from the day she left him in search of her dreams of glory and fame. Did she regret it? Did he? She knew she had to turn around and face him, but... Oh God!  
  
"Himura..." His name finally fell from her lips. "Is that really you?" Her heart began beating again, and it felt like thunder inside her chest.   
  
"Turn around and look for yourself, kirei." She shivered as he used the endearment he had always called her. Beautiful. He had always told her she was the most beautiful woman in the world. One hand rose to cover her thundering heart, and she slowly turned around to face the past  
  
she never thought she would see again. He still looked very much the same as he had the last time she had seen him. Excepting his hair was much longer, and there was more wisdom and pain reflected in his eyes than she remembered being there before. Her delicate eyebrows knitted in  
  
thought for a moment as she tried to remember how old he would be by now, and then raised high in astonishment when she realized he was past thirty. How was it possible? He was still so young looking. Still so....   
  
"You are still so handsome." She choked past the lump in her throat. "I see you never got rid of that horrid pink gi you insisted on wearing all the time." A shaking smile crossed her stunned face. He chuckled softly.  
  
"Of course not. It is comfortable, and the girl I bought it from said it looked good with my eyes." Her eyes fell as she blushed and laughed.  
  
"That was a poor excuse then, and it still is now."   
  
"I know." He shrugged. "But what else can I say? You would have thrown me out of the ikka if I said what really happened. So I had to come up with something." She giggled like a young girl as she met his laughing violet eyes.  
  
"You think I did not know where you got it? Baka-Himura. I always knew."  
  
"I figured you did, but I was not going to tell you I knew you knew. If I had, you would have made me get rid of it."  
  
"True. But tell me one thing?"  
  
"What?" His eyes danced with humor despite what he knew this woman was and had done.  
  
"Was she worth it?" Elsbeth pursed her lips in a catty pout.  
  
"You want the truth? Even after all these years?"  
  
"Yes. Even after all these years."  
  
"Yes, she was worth it." He automatically ducked. It was an ingrained response from being used to having things thrown at him, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes and peaked at her from his crouched position, and found her smiling at him.  
  
"What are you doing?" She asked in a voice full of laughter.  
  
"Well, you used to throw things at me when you got mad. I guess it was a natural response." He smiled and shrugged again.  
  
"Well, you looked pretty silly. Stand up. I do not have anything to throw anyway." Kenshin rose to his full height again and flexed his shoulders loosening the joints. "You will never change will you?" She smiled and shook her head sending her long hair dancing about her.  
  
"In some ways, no. But in other ways, I have changed very much." The smile vanished from his face, and his eyes grew serious. "So have you." Elsbeth felt a coldness slide over her, and she wondered what he thought he knew about her.  
  
"Yes, I have changed. Everyone changes, Himura. It is what makes the world go -'round." It was a flippant remark that pinched at his heart. This was not the Elsbeth he remembered.  
  
"I seems you have something that belongs to me, Elsbeth." Her grey-green eyes grew wide and round as she stared at him. "It is something very special to me. I want it back."  
  
"I have no idea what you are talking about. I have nothing of yours. I never took anything that belonged to you when I left...."  
  
"I am not talking about when you left." His rough voice cut her off sharply and she glared at him in angry offense. "I think you know exactly what I am talking about. Don't you, kirei."   
  
Elsbeth felt a shiver of apprehension shudder though her as his eyes changed from a dark purple to a pale amber gold. "Are you brave enough to answer me with the truth, or must I prove to you that I know it for fact already?" The anger around him was palpable, and she realized that in all their time together she had never once seen him like this. She had heard the stories of the amber eyes, but she had never seen them. Now she stood before them a victim to their fury, and she was afraid. And she knew he knew she was.  
  
"I will not tell you anything. You know nothing." She spun away from him with the intention of locking herself inside the carriage, but found her arm seized in the iron grip of his hand.  
  
"I am not in the mood for games, Elsbeth. You have my Son, and I want him back." Terror crossed her face. How could he know she had the boy? It was impossible, but what had the Brat said? Himura would come no matter what. The boy had believed unconditionally that this man  
  
would come for him, and so he had. She was stunned to the core of her being.  
  
"I... I have no such thing... y-you have no right to accuse me of anything. Get your hands of me or I will scream." Shimmering liquid silver pools met and locked with twin burning orbs of flame.  
  
"Go ahead and scream." He breathed into her startled face. "Scream as loud as you want, and I promise you, you will be dead long before anyone comes to save you. I will slit your lovely throat ear to ear and leave you for the strays. Do you understand?" She nodded her eyes wide.  
  
"Good. I am glad. Now, answer me. Where is my son?"  
  
"I..." She felt the world closing in on her, and everything started to turn black as the faint came upon her. The next moment Elsbeth was nothing more than limp weight in Kenshin's arms since he had kept her from falling to the ground.  
  
"Kuso!" He cursed.   
  
"We will take her with us." Aoshi was standing next to him looking at the unconscious woman. "If we keep her prisoner until after the full moon, she will not be able to perform the ritual."  
  
"That is a reasonable idea." Kenshin nodded and hefted Elsbeth's limp form over his shoulder, and turned to leave.  
  
"Eeiiiiihhh!" The screaming battle cry halted Kenshin and Aoshi mid stride. Both spun around to look behind them, and that was when they were finally introduced to The Man in Black. Raul was flying over the edge of the stone stairwell, short sword drawn in his right hand, and held high over his head. The trajectory of his flight was taking him directly into Soujirou's vulnerable back. The young man had stopped to adjust the strap on his shoe, and was still kneeling on one knee with his back exposed to the Desert Man.  
  
"You are mine now, Girly-man!" He screamed as he swung the blade downward in a crushing and deadly blow meant to break Soujirou's back or cut him in half. "Die Now!"  
  
"Soujirou!" Kenshin dropped Elsbeth's limp body on the ground and let his God-like speed carry him across the space that separated him from his son. "MOVE!" But Soujirou was already gone his shicuchi carrying him out, to the side, up the wall, and behind The Man in Black in a mere second or two without even stirring a breeze.  
  
The next series of events happened in such a short span of time, that it was hard to determine it any real time had even past.  
  
Kenshin arrived at the spot where Sourjirou had been kneeling only a split instant before, and his sakobatou slid smoothly from it's sheath. It was swung in a powerful upward arch faster than Raul's eyes could follow. Pain exploded across his chest as the reverse blade dug a deep  
  
furrowed pathway into his flesh down to the bone. He felt his body being thrown up and backwards from the terrific force of the blow, and when he hit the solidity of the ground, it was like being thrown in front of a roaring Locomotive. The cracking sounds of ribs, both of this collar bones, and his back greeted him as he came to rest laying half way over the stairwell.  
  
Kenshin had come to rest on one knee as well as leaning heavily on his sword. His breathing was harsh and coming from somewhere deep inside his chest. Soujirou ran to him and knelt next to him resting a hand of deep concern on his shoulder.  
  
"Father...." His voice was filled with concern and awe. "Are you alright? Are you injured?"  
  
"No, I am fine." A strong hand gripped the hand Soujirou had placed on his shoulder. "Are you alright? Are you hurt? Did he touch you at all?" Kenshin's worried eyes searched the face of his son.  
  
Soujirou smiled and shook his head in humbled disbelief. "I am fine. He did not touch me."   
  
He helped Kenshin to his feet and embraced him. "You were trying to save me... again." He murmured into Kenshin's neck. "And with your Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki no less."  
  
"Only the best for my son." They looked at each other and laughed softly.  
  
"Thank-you. I am humbled. I did not know it could be used to defend another person."  
  
"Neither did I." Their eyes met one last time and they shared a personal message of love between them. "I guess it is nice to know it can be." Soujirou nodded in agreement. "We should go see to our... friend." They walked over to the wounded man who lay bloodied and broken on the stones. Kenshin knelt down next to his head which was hanging over the edge of the stairwell. He was conscious.  
  
"What is your name?"  
  
"Raul." He rasped in his strange accent.  
  
"You are... Aisan?"  
  
"Arabic." Kenshin nodded.  
  
"Do you know what this woman is, and what she has been doing?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And you serve her?"  
  
"Yes." His voice was fading to a whisper.  
  
"Why? Your people do not believe in the sacrifice of human flesh. Why would you do this?"  
  
"Gold....."   
  
"I see." Kenshin looked over the man's injuries. "I cannot help your injuries, Raul. You are going to die. I am sorry. It was not my intention to kill you because I have sworn an oath to never kill. It has been 12 years since I killed a man."  
  
"Your sword.... It is very strange."  
  
"It has a reverse blade. It is not meant to kill. Your fall has killed you, but I am the one who caused your fall. So, I am still ultimately responsible for taking your life. I am sorry."  
  
"Do not be sorry, my friend. You have answered my prayers."  
  
"I have? How is it I have answered prayers by taking your life?"  
  
"I have prayed to be dead before the Lady could finish this last task. I did not want to be alive to witness.... to see... I am already damned, but I did not want to see Hell while there was life yet in my body." He coughed and blood started to drip out of the corners of his mouth and stain his yellow broken teeth.  
  
"Then you know what she is planning to do. You know she is going to open a door to Hell that is meant to stay open forever. You know this."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Raul, help me." Kenshin locked gazes with the dying man. "Where is my son? The boy you took from the Market, he was my son, Yahiko. Where is he? Is he here, inside the prison?"  
  
"Yes. But you cannot get to him. No one can, except me."  
  
"Why only you? Tell me."  
  
"I am the only one who knows exactly which cell block, which cell row, and which cell he is in, and I am not sure there is enough time for me to tell you the way to get there." His dark brown eyes filled with tears. "Forgive me."  
  
"Tell me what you know. Tell me." Kenshin pleaded, but it was already too late. Raul's eyes were turning dull as the life left his body. "Nooooo...." Kenshin grabbed the front of the man's black robe and shook him. "Do not do this to us. Tell me! Dear God, tell me. Pleeeaaasssee!" But Raul was gone. His prayer had been answered. "DAMMIT!!" Kenshin screamed as he stood up and blindly threw Raul's short sword down the alley in impotent fury. "GOD HELP US!!"  
  
Soujirou grabbed his father and pulled him into a hard embrace as Kenshin's legs buckled beneath him and he fell to his knees under the weight of another failure. "God.... help me...." his voice was so faint against Soujirou's neck, the younger man was not even sure he had heard it.   
  
"Father, you must not give up. WE must not give up." Soujirou tightened his arms around the man he loved most in the world. "As long as we are together, we can accomplish anything, and we will find little brother. WE will find him together, I promise we will, but you must not give up. I need you." He buried his face in the thick red hair. "Do you hear me, Father? I need you. I need you. I will always need you. Please do not give up. Stay with me. I need you."   
  
Slinking behind them like a snake sliding through green boggy water, she moved across the short distance smoothly, silently, and deadly until she reached Raul's dead body. A delicate white hand fished in and out of folds, pockets, and pouches until she found the prize she sought. The old rusty key. Snatching it up, Elsbeth clutched it tightly to her chest as she looked warily at the two men kneeling only a few feet away from her. They were still wallowing in their grief like old women, and neither of them had noticed her. So much for the Great Battousai and his superhuman abilities. She had to clamp a hand over her own mouth to stifle the nervous giggles that threatened to leap out as she edged past him and his little minion. "You must be getting rusty, Himura." She  
  
thought. "Or else you have just gone soft." A sneer curled her lips. Soft. Sentimental. Disgustingly paternal not to mention all honorable and respectable. He was taking responsibility for these people like they were his blood kin. Did he not realize that nothing was thicker than blood? Blood was Blood. If the Brat were her son, there would be no way in Heaven or Hell she would consider offering him up as a sacrifice. It would not matter how much power and energy he had or how badly she needed it, but he was not her son, so it did not matter. It did not matter to her whose son he was, but as the thought of blood and sons filtered through her frenzied evil mind, a long buried mental image began to surface and take shape in her mind.   
  
  
  
A large edifice built of gray and white granite rose from within the deep woods of her homeland like the looming image of a great ghost. Hidden as it was from the main flux of the population, it rarely if ever had visitors and had been built to be completely self sufficient.   
  
Emmeron's Peak. Elsbeth had grown up there as a child, and most of her memories revolved around the great keep. It's tall gray walls held many long kept secrets from generations of her family dating back hundreds of year, and now it held the most precious of Elsbeth's secrets. The secrets no one was ever meant to know, and she would never reveal even on her death bed. Everything would stay sealed up behind the great gray walls of Emmeron's Peak.  
  
She roughly shook her head and cleared her mind of long past memories, and scolded herself on her weakness of not being able to control her own thoughts. Then she carefully unhitched one of the horses. They were docile as babies, and the gelding stood patiently while she removed the harness gear and released him from the carriage. She had to climb up on the carriage seat to get on the horses' back, but she did finally get seated and was about to leave when she found her dress was caught. Cursing she turned to see what it was stuck on.  
  
It was stuck in Himura Kenshin's hand. "Leaving so soon, kirei?" His voice was cold, but his eyes burned a brilliant gold. "We are not finished talking."  
  
"Yes, we are Himura. I have nothing else to say to you. Nothing."  
  
"Where is my brother? Where is Aoshi?"  
  
"Look for yourself. He should be more watchful over what he's watching than he was at watching over me. The stupid fool never knew what hit him." Kenshin's gaze shot up the alley and located the prone body of the tall ninja. "Do not worry. He is not dead. He will just have a good headache when he wakes up. Nice thing about old war zones... lots and lots of big stones just laying about."  
  
"I see. If he is hurt permanently..... "  
  
"Oh please. Do no threaten me Himura. We both know you could never hurt me." Inside, Elsbeth was desperately hoping her false bravado bluff would work and Kenshin would back down. It did not.  
  
"If you believe that, then you are the true Fool, Elsbeth. It is true, I took a solemn oath 12 years ago to never kill again, but, as you so colorfully put it, change is what makes the world go around." His eyes became a murderous flaming gold that reached out and made her soul shrivel in terror. "But, if you hurt anyone I love, if you hurt my family, that oath means nothing to me. Do you understand me? It will mean nothing."  
  
"You would kill me? Me? You loved me once, Himura. How could you kill me?" Her face was filled with horror, fear, and surprise.  
  
"Could I kill you even if I once loved you? Yes. How could I kill you? With my own bare hands, kirei, without regret or remorse."  
  
"You bastard." She hissed. "You would do that to me after everything I meant to you? After everything you felt for me?"  
  
"What you meant to me?" He laughed, but it came out a sharp harsh sound that grated on her ears and brought tears to her grey-green eyes. "What I felt for you? I did not know what love was back then. What I have now is something worth living for." The sharp daggers of his eyes tore at her heart and soul. "Do you hear what I am saying, Elsbeth? I would have gladly died for you at any moment. I would have given my life to save you. That is how much I loved you, but the love I feel for Kaoru is different. Do you know why?" She shook her head as tears ran down her cheeks. "It is different because I love her enough to want to live. I. Want. To. Live." Elsbeth burst into sobs.  
  
"I hate you."  
  
"I hate you more." A tear ran down his face. "Give me my son."  
  
"Never. You'll never see him again, I swear it Himura. You will never see your son alive again."  
  
"Elsbeth!" The lion in him roared out in anguish and rage. "Give me my son!"  
  
"NO!" She yanked her dress out of his hand. "If you want him so bad, go down there and find him yourself."  
  
"How can I? You know it is a maze of five thousand cells. Do you even know where he is? Or are you mocking me? Are you going to let him suffocate or starve to death because you do not know where he is either?" She offered him a flat evil smile. "Elsbeth?" She kicked her horse into a brisk trot and left him standing in the street.  
  
"Elsbeth?!"   
  
"ELSBETH?! TELL ME?!"  
  
"TELL ME?!"  
  
"ELSBETH.... DAMN YOU!!" 


	14. Visions From The Past

Glossary: Bakumatsu=Revolution, Daimyos=Land Lord or Governor, tenshi=angel, zenrei=my whole soul, sho-ji=outside door, ikka=home, ikke=family, tadaima=I am home, koishii=dear or darling, Anata=endearment from a wife to her husband, aijou=love, aman=lover, Aishiteru=I love you, Aisai=beloved wife, itsumademo=forever, baka-deshi=stupid apprentice,   
  
Enshii=township(my own), Nanda(township),  
  
Chapter 14  
  
  
  
Visions from The Past  
  
It had been an especially cold morning when Hiko rolled off of his futon and stood to stretch his muscles. His back and neck were stiff and sore, and he was being forced to admit that his age was starting to catch up to him in some ways. Getting older had always been a thought that lived far away in the back of his mind because he believed it would never happen to him. He had thought his life would be over long before grey came to dim the raven blackness of his hair because there had never been a doubt in his mind that Kenshin would inherit the title of Seijurou Hiko the 14th. Hiko had always planned to die at Kenshin's hand when he mastered the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki, but it had not happened that way.  
  
Kenshin had mastered the technique, but his sakobatou had only left Hiko wounded and not dead. So, now for the first time in 14 generations, there were two Masters of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. Strange. Unheard of. Unspeakable. Interesting.  
  
There was one main difference between the two Masters. Kenshin had taken the Mitsurugi and used it to become an assassin for the Meiji Government during the Bakumatsu, while Hiko had done his best to remain true to the morals and laws it taught. But there were times in the last two years that Hiko found himself wondering if he and his deshi were really all that different. In the end, their points of view on life were very much the same, although they had arrived at those views on very different paths.  
  
  
  
"Good Morning, Seijurou-san. It is very cold today, do you not agree?" Sargent Izukia was sitting in his customary place behind his desk. He was busy with mountains of paperwork as usual, but Saitoh's efficient Aide never seemed to be flustered by anything. Except perhaps his Captain and the man who stood in front of him. He swallowed nervously as Hiko favored him with a sardonic look that told him he was an idiot to even ask the question.  
  
"Is he in yet?" Hiko motioned towards the closed door to Saitoh's office.  
  
"Of course. He arrived long before anyone else, but his door has been closed all morning."  
  
"Why? Is he meeting with someone in there?" Hiko studied the door with narrowed eyes.  
  
"No. There is no one in there with him. I looked in a bit ago, and he is just setting in there staring out the window. He is not even looking over reports, or working on current investigations in progress. He is just setting there." Izukia shrugged his shoulders. "I do not know what he is doing. He did not look like he wanted to be disturbed, so I left him alone."  
  
"I see." Hiko nodded. "Thank-you Sargent. You have been most helpful." Then he walked away from the Izukia's cluttered desk, rapped once on Saitoh's office door, and went inside. Izukia stood with wide eyes and open mouth as the cold hand of shock cut of his air flow. No one ever just walked into the Captain's office without being allowed to enter. He felt his insides shriveling into a tight little ball of apprehension as he waited for the bomb to go off. Even if Seijurou-san was the Captain's friend, there was no way he would allow this impropriety. It was going to be a bad morning.  
  
"It looks like I should have brought a bottle of Sake with me." Hiko eyed Saitoh's statue still form sitting ramrod straight in his office chair, eyes staring blankly out the window behind his desk. "You look positively cheerful. What is the occassion?" He dropped his long frame into the uncomfortable wooden chair that was always the only other place to sit in Saitoh's office.  
  
"Come-in, Hiko." The sarcastic remark was not spoken with Saitoh's usual cutting tone. "Won't you sit down and make yourself comfortable.... If you can." There was definitely something wrong. Saitoh was completely out of character for himself.   
  
"Saitoh," Hiko leaned forward studying the other man's profile. "Is there something wrong today? You seem.... well, you seem to not be quite yourself. Has something happened?"  
  
There was a long pause, and then Saitoh spoke. The voice that came from him was distant and almost sad. "I have been thinking about things I have not thought of for many years."  
  
"Things? What kind of things?  
  
"The past." Hiko noticed Saitoh was not smoking. This was indeed out of character.  
  
"Yes. A past I rarely if ever let myself remember."  
  
"Why is that?"  
  
"It is too.... painful."  
  
Hiko was surprised. "We all have things in our past that are painful to remember. Even I have memories I wish I could forget, but they remain with me like unwanted companions. Then when I least expect it, they will rise to the surface, and, despite all my best efforts, they will come walking with me." Sympathetic eyes watched Saitoh for any reaction. "Are yours walking with you today, My Friend?"  
  
"Yes. It has been many years since we went walking. I have always managed to keep these memories carefully hidden away in the back of my mind where they could not infringe on my life, but lately...."  
  
"Lately you are not having such good luck keeping them locked away?"  
  
"No." Saitoh heaved a great sigh and turned around to look at his friend. "I am not. They have risen from their grave to haunt me like a thousand ghosts I can no longer lay to rest." He rubbed his eyes with his hands. "It would seem I am no longer in control of my own thoughts."  
  
Hiko lowered his gaze to study the front of the old wooden desk. "I understand."  
  
"So, how do you put your ghosts to rest, Hiko? What do you do to make them recede back into the grave where they belong? How to you return balance back to your mind?"  
  
"I drink Sake." It was a simple, flat, emotionless answer.  
  
Saitoh dropped his hands and stared in shock at Hiko. "That is it? That is all you do?" Hiko raised his eyes and locked gazes with Saitoh's yellow-gold stare.   
  
"That is it. That is all I do."  
  
Saitoh rolled his eyes and dropped back onto the cushioned back of his chair. "Only you would choose to drown your sorrows in a bottle of Sake instead of finding a viable solution to solving them." He shook his head and looked indulgently at his friend as half a smile curled his thin  
  
lips. "I should have known."  
  
"Do not judge me, Saitoh. You do not know the memories I run from, nor do you know why."  
  
"You are right. Forgive me." He offered a open hand to Hiko who nodded in acquiescence. "I am not in a position to judge considering the past I have been running from, and how many years I have been running from it."  
  
"I will listen if you want to unburden it. I am in no position to judge you either." Hiko leaned back in the chair and focused on Saitoh's face. "It may help you put things into perspective."   
  
Saitoh thought about the offer Hiko had given him, and decided perhaps he was right. "You must understand, Hiko. I have not spoken about this for more than ten years. I am not even certain how many years it has been, which is a crime in and of itself." His face turned sad.  
  
"I understand."   
  
"A long time ago when I was very young, I was married." Saitoh was watching Hiko's face closely. "Does that shock you? That an asshole like me could ever be married let alone have a woman be in love with me?"  
  
"To a point it does, I suppose, but the world is full of surprises." The stern features of the Mitsurugi Master's face relaxed and his inner pain became all to evident. "I had a son once. A  
  
beautiful shining son whom I loved with all my heart, but I lost him to the Bakumatsu." Hiko met Saitoh's eyes. "Does that surprise you?" The two men simply looked at one another for several minutes without saying a word, and then Saitoh continued his story.  
  
"She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my life. I had just finished my training in the Shinsengumi, and I was on my way to my new post. I had been assigned to serve the Daimyos in the village of Enshii. She was his daughter." Saitoh's grey eyes looked wistful as he recalled her face. "Her hair was the color of burnt chestnuts, and it glowed with red streaks when the sun caught it just right. She always wore it in a tight knot on the top of her head, but I remember the first time I ever saw it loose." A smile crossed his face. "It was so long that it nearly reached her knees. It was glorious." A sigh of pleasure escaped him, and he remained quiet for a moment as he savored that  
  
memory. "She had the most magnificent eyes. They were the color of the earth and filled with intelligence and a sharp wit." His eyes closed. "She looked like the Tenshi in the Temples."  
  
"How old was she?"  
  
"15 I think. Maybe 16, I don't remember. It did not matter to me at that time. All I understood was I had found something extraordinary, and it deserved further investigation."  
  
"So you did what?"  
  
"I investigated. I started to follow her everywhere she went. I took every opportunity that presented itself to me to talk to her, to spend time with her, to get to know her. And before I knew it, I was in love with her. I asked her father for her, and he agreed. We were married before the end of one year. She was all I ever wanted."  
  
"What happened to her?"  
  
"That was three years before the Bakumatsu began, and I thought life was perfect. We were planning on having a baby by then. I did not think she was old enough in the beginning so we had waited." A strange look passed over his features. "Sometimes, I wish I had not made her wait."   
  
He sat still and thoughtful for several minutes without saying a word, then began again. "When the War started, I was recalled to my regiment. I left her with her father thinking she would be safer there than with me in the middle of the fighting. I was wrong."  
  
Hiko's face showed stunned astonishment as he searched Saitoh's frozen features. "What do you mean, you were wrong? What happened?"  
  
"It was the beginning of the second year of fighting, and most of the bloodshed was centering around Kyoto and her neighboring villages and towns. That was when I first encountered the Battousai. That was also when I became the man I am now." He steepled his fingers as he turned  
  
introspective. "The Ishin Shishi where everywhere pushing the Shinsengumi back, and between them were the smaller individual Samurai bands fighting for their Daimyos'. It was becoming difficult to tell who was the enemy and who was not. It was during one of these confusing battles that I decided it was time I went home and took my Wife to a safer location before the fighting reached Enshii, but when I got there, it was already too late. The whole village was under attack."  
  
"From whom? The Ishin shishi?"  
  
"No. I wish it had been, but it was not. It was a squadron of renegade Shinsengumi that had the reputation of raiding any village they came across, and murdering everyone in it whatever their political affiliation."  
  
"Why?!" Hiko was sickened and outraged. "Why was this behavior condoned?"  
  
"It was not condoned. It was just very difficult to catch them. They never stayed in one place long enough to be captured, and there were never any witnesses left to raise the alarm."   
  
"Animals. Nothing but animals. They did it for the pleasure didn't they?"  
  
"Yes. There were many men in those days who killed simply for the gratification of their blood-lust. Many of them were Hitokiri's and considered valuable, but those who were out of control were considered criminals. When the renegades were caught, each of them was put to death  
  
in a very painful fashion. None of them were allowed to die honorably."  
  
"Fitting. A warrior who kills the innocent for the single pleasure of spilling their blood, has no honor." A terrible frown covered his face as he thought of Kenshin. Kenshin had never found pleasure in the murders he committed during his days as a Hitokiri. Hiko was certain of that, but he had taken so many lives. More than any other single man in the history of Japan. Close to 400 men had lost their lives to his deadly blade before he had taken his oath to never kill again, but what had those many deaths cost him in return for the peace he helped to establish? Most of his soul. His peace. His life. And it had cost him the love of the only father he had ever known.... or had it?  
  
"You did not find her in Enshii? Is that why you say it was too late?"  
  
"Yes. The house was completely destroyed. It had been burnt to the ground with everyone inside. No one had survived the fire. She was gone. I thought I was protecting her by leaving her there, but, in the end, my choice to leave her behind cost her life." His voice became tight and strained. "She was mine to protect. My responsibility. My Wife. My Beloved. She was all I ever wanted, and I lost her because I did not keep her by my side where she belonged."  
  
"You have never forgiven yourself?"  
  
"No, I cannot."  
  
"How could you know she would not be safe? You did what you thought was the best for her. I would have done the same thing had I been in your place."  
  
"You would?" Yellow eyes raked Hiko's face with sharp scepticism. "And how do you know that? You do not even care for women except in your bed."  
  
"I admit, you are right about that, but none the less. If faced with the same choice, I would have done the same thing."  
  
"All right. I accept that, but it does not alter the fact that I failed her and she died because of it." Saitoh turned and looked out the window again. "For years and years I have buried her memory deep in the back of my mind trying to convince myself she never existed. That has been the only way I have been able to go on with my life. That is the only way I can live without her."  
  
"You became a sarcastic, unemotional, asshole so you would not have to remember what it felt like to love someone, and that way you would never be reminded of her? Is that what your trying to say?"  
  
"I suppose it is. Believe it or not, Hiko. I was not always an asshole." A laugh of pure irony danced past his lips. "There was a time when I was quite the romantic idiot. You would have laughed your ass off at me."  
  
"I doubt it. I kinda like thinking of you like that. It puts a whole new twist on your already twisted personality." Saitoh gave Hiko a dry smile and the two friends chuckled. "I would like to ask you something. It is purely hypothetical, but I would like to know anyway."  
  
"What?"  
  
"What would you do if she were alive? If she had somehow managed to escape the raid on the village, and she had somehow managed to make her way to a safe place, what would you do?"  
  
Saitoh stared at Hiko as if he were insane. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"Listen to the question you idiot. What would you do if she were alive right now? If she were alive right now? Right now, in this city, under an assumed name. What would you do?" Saitoh's face turned grey as stone and a muscle began twitching in his cheek. His breathing became  
  
so slow and shallow, it was difficult to see his chest move, and his eyes had changed color to a harsh yellow-orange.  
  
"You know something, Hiko." He leaned forward in his chair, and pinned Hiko with a fierce glare. "Tell me what you know." The Mibu Wolf had somehow slipped into Saitoh's office.  
  
"You have not told me what you would do, Saitoh. When you answer my question, I will tell you what I know." Hiko was nonplused by the Wolf's stare.  
  
"Just fucking tell me what you know, or I swear to God, I will tear your head off!"  
  
"Temper, temper." Hiko leaned forward and locked his yellowish-green gaze with the blistering yellow-orange glare of the Wolf's. "All right, I will tell you, but then you have to answer my question before you do anything else. Deal?"  
  
"Deal."  
  
"Takagi Tokio is alive and living here in Kyoto. She has been living here since sometime after the Kyoto Fires, and for some reason, she has believed you to be dead for the last 12 years. She believes you perished that night."  
  
"Me.... Dead?" He was incredulous. "Why did she believe that? I went home whenever I could. I sent her letters right up until I went back to the village."  
  
"She never mentioned a single letter. All she said was, you never came home, and there was never any word from you or about you after the Fires."  
  
"No word.... the Fires happened after the Enshii was destroyed. Of course there was no word. I believed she was dead. Oh God! Alive? All these years.... All these horrible years. Where was she? Where were they if they were not in Enshii when the house burned? Where were they?" His eyes were filled with a wild mixture of emotions. Surprize, anxiety, hope, fear, anger, and some that had no names. "Where could they have been, Hiko?"  
  
"I do not know. All of the information I have says her family still lives in Enshii. Perhaps, you would care to ask her for yourself." The statement was made in a gentle voice filled with supportive encouragement. "Saitoh, I was going to be bringing her here today to see you."  
  
"You what??"   
  
"When I told her you were alive, she was just as shocked as you are now. Actually, she fainted dead away, but the first thing she wanted to do when she came to was see you. She wants to look at your face, Saitoh, just to see you. She just wants to see you whether you think you could  
  
still love her or not is irrelevant at this point. She just wants to see you one more time."  
  
"Not love her...." Trembling legs lifted Saitoh out of his chair and carried him around the side of his desk to Hiko. "Not love her...." He repeated as Hiko stood and put a steadying hand on his shoulder. As the Wolf's yellow eyes met the eyes of the man in front of him, a tear slid down his thin sharp face. "How could I not still love her? She was all I ever wanted, Hiko."  
  
"Then would you care to accompany me to her cottage? It is only a couple of hours walk away." Saitoh gripped Hiko's arm and nodded.  
  
As they walked out of his office, Saitoh waved at Izukia. "I may be gone the rest of the day, Izukia. Keep everything running." Then he and Hiko left the Station and a gapping Izukia behind.  
  
*******************  
  
Tokio spent the majority of the morning washing and drying the monstrosity that was her hair. It's full length nearly reached the floor now, and it always seemed to grow a mind of its' own when she tried to dry and brush the flowing mass. She had given up several years ago trying to wear the traditional Japanese styles, and just wore it loose most of the time. But today she wanted to try and do something special with it. Today Seijruou-san was taking her to see Saitoh for the first time in over 12 years.  
  
"Saitoh...." She allowed herself to whisper his name, and one of her hands rose to rest against her breast where her heartbeat skipped in response. "I wonder if you will even know me after all this time?" Tokio looked at her face in the mirror and critically inspected it for flaws. She frowned as she noticed that her age was beginning to show. 31 on her last birthday, and little wrinkles were beginning to show at the corners of her eyes and her mouth. The pretty girl he had called his whole soul, his zenrei was not as pretty as she was all those years ago, nor was she as young.  
  
"Maybe it is not such a good idea to see him after all." She said to the Tokio reflected in the mirror. "It might be better to let him remember us the way we looked back then. This change could be too much too fast. He could be disappointed." She turned away from the mirror with a heavy heart. "I could not bear to see disappointment in his eyes. It would be worse that thinking him dead all this time. Perhaps he has a good reason for never coming back after the Bakumatsu. Maybe he no longer had the desire for the responsibility of a Wife and a family, or maybe he just did not want to come home. There are thousands of reasons that could have kept him away." It was desperate rationalization and she knew it, but it was the only way she could cope with the emotions she was  
  
beginning to feel.  
  
A sad sigh lifted her breasts as she slipped into a deep forest green kimono then secured it with a fuchsia obi tied at her back. She would tell Seijurou-san she was sorry for troubling him when he came, but she had changed her mind about going to see Saitoh. A single hot tear slid down her smooth cheek and dripped off her chin dropping onto the dark green covering her breast. It left a round wet spot that turned the dark silt almost black. Tokio did not notice, and another tear slid  
  
down the same path. It was followed by another and another. Her head bent forward and her hands rose to cover her face, and she quietly began to cry.  
  
A gentle but audible rapping on her sho-ji caused her to frantically wipe the wetness from her face, and she quickly straightened her kimono and smoothed her hair. "You can do this." She told her reflection in the mirror. "It is the best thing." Then she walked on silent bare feet to the main front room of her ikka and slid the door open.  
  
"Good Morning, Takagi-san. I am sorry. I realize I am earlier than I intended to be, but circumstanced arose that I could not avoid, and they forced me to move our meeting time forward" He smiled apologetically. "I do hope you are not angry."   
  
"No, of course not." She smiled as best she could. "I... I have something I need to tell you. I hope it will not put you out or offend you" Tokio lowered her eyes as a blush colored her pale face.  
  
"What is it?" Hiko was immediately concerned. "Is everything all right, Takagi-san?"  
  
"Yes... well, no... I mean... it is just that...." She was stuttering and stammering and it was obvious to Hiko that she was very uncomfortable. As he looked more closely at her, he noticed she  
  
had been crying.   
  
"What has happened? You have been crying, why?"  
  
"Oh that... it is nothing really. I just decided against going with you today." She turned away from Hiko and walked back into the room.  
  
"Why? Why would you do that? I thought you wanted to see Saitoh more than anything?"  
  
"I did. I do, but I think it is better if I do not." Her voice was so sad and filled with pain.  
  
"Why? I want you to tell me why?"  
  
"I do not want him to see 'me'." She chocked on a sob and her hand covered her mouth.  
  
"Not see you?" Hiko was incredulous. "Why? Why would you not want him to see you?"  
  
A bitter laugh came from her, and then silence as she fought to pull her wayward emotions back under control. "Feminine pride. Seijurou-san. I am not the young pretty girl he married all those years ago, and I want him to remember me like that. I do not want him to see the age and the  
  
wrinkles time has given to me." She laughed again, but did not turn around. " I think it is better this way regardless of my feelings. It was selfish of me to think I could just walk into his life out of  
  
nowhere and simply say 'Tadaima koishii, did you miss me?' and expect him to open his arms and welcome me. It was a pleasant dream." The grip on her emotions slipped and a sob shock her small frame. She felt the pressure of a gentle hand on her neck and another on her arm. "I am all right, Seijurou-san, but perhaps you should go now." Neither hand moved, and Tokio felt the warmth of a body in close proximity to hers permeating through her kimono to her cool skin. Then the moist heat of softly whispered words brushed past her ear and fanned her damp cheek.  
  
"But I do not want to leave, zenrei. I have not seen your face for myself, and I would see it once again before death does indeed close these disbelieving eyes. Let me look into your face once more." And Tokio felt gentle pressure applied to her neck while her arm was tenderly pulled back. In a short moment, she found herself face to face with a man she had thought never to see again except within her own mind or her dreams.   
  
Time, it seemed, had changed him as well. The thin boned handsome face she remembered was much thinner, and bore such a look of sternness it was difficult to equate it to the smiling laughing man she in her memories. The dark slate black of his hair had changed to a steely grey that shone almost silver in the sunlight. Eyes grown narrow after years of war and fighting retained their unique topaz color, but the ferocity in them belonged to another man. This was the Wolf of Mibu. This was the man she had never met. The Hijame Saitoh she had never known but had heard so many stories about. Should she be afraid?  
  
"Why did you not ever come back?" She whispered as she searched the strange yet familiar face of her husband.  
  
"The villiage was destroyed.... the house, it was gone. Everything was gone. I thought you were... I thought you were dead." His voice sounded broken and filled with grief. "I never found you."  
  
"Father took us to Nanda when the fight got too close. I wrote to you. I told you." She searched his pain filled eyes looking for the truth.  
  
"Nanda?" He stared at her in shock. "I never got a letter from you telling me you went to Nanda. I never heard anything. I went to Enshii to get you and take you back to Kyoto with me so I could keep you safe, but.... everything was gone. Dear God, Tokio...." Saitoh suddenly pulled her close to his chest and buried his face against her neck. "I wanted to die when I saw the burnt ruin of the house. All I could think of was you dying in there inside the flames." He choked. "I thought I  
  
would die just from the pain of knowing I had failed you."  
  
"Failed me?" She wrapped her arms around him and held on tightly as tears began sliding down her face in uncontrolled streams. "You never failed me, Anata. Never."  
  
"Yes, I did." He raised up and looked into her tear streaked face. "I left you behind when your place was at my side, where I could protect you. It was my duty, my responsibility, and I failed. I should have taken you with me in the very beginning. I never should have let you out of my sight. I lost all reason to live when you died." Saitoh pressed his forehead against Tokio's. "My heart died."  
  
"Saitoh... I have been dead all these years as well. I thought you died in the Kyoto Fires. That is why I finally came here to live. It was the closest I could come to being with you."  
  
"I still love you, beautiful zenrei. I will always love you." Hiko quietly left unnoticed by the couple, silently closing the door behind him.  
  
Tokio was crying again and pressing soft kisses all over his face and neck. "Saitoh... Anata... I have loved you all my life. You were my life. I will always love you too." The hand that held her neck cupped the back of her head so he could cover her mouth with his. She moaned and pushed herself up into the kiss wrapping her arms more tightly around his shoulders and burying one hand deep into the thickness of this silver-grey hair.   
  
"Zenrei." He whispered unevenly as he felt her mold her softness against him. His mouth left her full lips and slid a moist hot path down her throat to her delicate collar bone. She whimpered with passion as he untied her obi and slid her kimono open. His callous roughened hands slid around the sensitive skin of her waist. One pressed into the small of her back pulling her into the hardness of his need, the other slid tantalizingly up her spine until it spread out between her shoulders and crushed her against his chest. The soft cotton of his uniform rubbed sensuously against her sensitive nipples making them harden and turn into little pebbles. Saitoh could feel her desire pressed against his chest, and, raising his head from her throat, he gazed at her beautiful breasts taking note of her arousal. "Zenrie..." He rasped and scooped her up into his arms while his long legs carried them back to her bedroom. It did not look like Captain Fujita would be back to the office anytime soon as he slid the fusuma closed with his boot.  
  
***************  
  
"Do you think it is too late for us, Saitoh?" Tokio's words were muffled against the curve of his throat. "Can we be together again, or has too much time past for us?" It was easy to hear the sadness in her voice, but the question was an honest concern. Nearly 13 years had past since they had lived together as husband and wife, and she wanted to know if he thought it was feasible that they could do it now when they had both evolved into such different people.  
  
Saitoh considered her question thoughtfully for several moments before he answered. "It has been many years since we lived together, and we are both very different people than we were in those days. I have lived my life in a solitary manner purposely, and it has become my way." He felt her burrow closer to his side and pressed her nose into his neck. The arm around her tightened in response, and he pulled her closer. "But I am not saying I do not think I can change, zenrei." He whispered into her hair trying to comfort the trembling that suddenly seized her body. "You would have to understand our life cannot be the way it was before either."  
  
"I know that." She said. "I just want to know if you think there is a chance we could ever be together... at all."  
  
"If you are asking me if I want to be your husband again, or if I want you to be my wife again, then I have only one answer to give you." He paused until she pulled back and looked at him with uncertain eyes. "I would have to say... Yes. I want both of those things." A brilliant smile bloomed across her lovely face, and she wrapped her arms around him tightly as she pressed her mouth against his.  
  
"Saitoh, I love you. I love you so much." She kissed him again and again, until he finally rolled her over beneath him and devoured her mouth with his own.  
  
"Aishiteru zenrei. You are all I ever wanted." His knee slid between her thighs and spread them so he could settle his hips intimately against her. "You are all I will ever want, and we will find a way to begin again." The moist strength of his tongue penetrated her mouth making her moan deep within her chest, and part her legs farther so she could wrap them around his waist. A rough primitive growl rumbled in his throat as he pulled her into the circle of his closest embrace and  
  
joined their bodies. "You are my Aisai, and I refuse to live without you again." His voice was a husky rasp in this throat. "We will begin again, and learn to love and accept the people we are now." Saitoh raised himself up on his elbows and sought out Tokio's passion filled eyes. "I will not lose you again, Tokio. You are my zenrei. My tenshi, and my aijou." He lowered his mouth to hers again. "Tadaima kishii..." I am home.  
  
Tears slid out of Tokio's eyes and were lost in the darkness of her hair as she pulled her Anata, her beloved Husband, down to her and held him tightly against her heart.   
  
"Aishiteru Anata..." She murmured against his lips as they covered hers. "Aisheteru."  
  
"Aishiteru Zenrei." He replied. "Aishiteru Itsumademo." Forever.  
  
****************  
  
The next morning black rain clouds darkened the skies above the city of Kyoto, and an ill wind blew through the narrow streets leaving behind feelings of unease as it went. Barely enough light filtered through the swollen grey masses to light the world and herald the coming of morning.   
  
Gloom and sadness clung to the Aioya just as it had done ever since Kenshin and Soujirou had brought and unconscious Aoshi back the day before. When Misao had seen the limp form of the tall dark ninja hanging between the two shorter men, she had nearly gone into hysterics. It had taken hours to calm her and quiet her tears, and even now she would not leave his side as he remained in bed with a severe concussion from the blow Elsbeth had delivered to his head.   
  
In their room, Kenshin and Kaoru were lost deep within their own gloomy world beneath the blackened sky. Kenshin had been in a deeply depressed mood ever since coming back from the prison and his confrontation with Elsbeth. He had not yet told Kaoru everything about the other woman only the important details she had to know. She did not need to know about his past romantic ties with the Woman.  
  
Kaoru had broken down into tears when he explained to her about the mazes inside the prison and how large it was.  
  
"How can we find him in two days, Kenshin?"  
  
"We cannot. It is impossible. I do not know what to do anymore." They had both fallen into despair at that moment. Now it seemed all they could do was hold each other and wait for the end to come and pass. The struggle was over, and they had failed.  
  
This was the scene that greeted Hiko when he returned to the Aoiya after reuniting Saitoh and Tokio the day before.  
  
"What in the hell is going on here? It looks like someone's favorite chicken got eaten by the neighbors." He looked around in total confusion and concern. Okina and the others were kneeling and sitting around the Aoiya in different places. "Where is Kenshin?" He asked the old man. Okina pointed towards the room.  
  
"He and Kamiya-dono have not come out since yesterday afternoon."  
  
"What the hell happened? It feels like a funeral in here." Hiko could feel a great sadness coming from Okina and it was making him very nervous as well as increasing his level of concern by the moment.  
  
"Come, Seijurou-san and sit with me. I will do my best to explain things to you. It is a terrible tragedy for all of us." Okina led Hiko to a private room where they sat down facing each other. "It grieves me to tell you this, Seijurou-san, but young Myojin-san's life can no longer be saved. He is doomed as are we all."  
  
"You cannot be serious. We have not even begun the process of trying to locate him. How can his life be forfeit already?" He was almost shouting in his shock.  
  
"Himura, Aoshi, and Seta-san found him yesterday."  
  
"They what?" Hiko nearly fell over.  
  
"It was an idea Misao had actually, and Aoshi took it and surmised that it was a logical assumption."  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"That Myojin-san was being held somewhere where he could be locked up without being bound or restricted, but still be kept without risk of escape or discovery."  
  
"I see. That is logical. Where did that assumption lead them?"  
  
"The underground prison beneath the old Monestary."  
  
Hiko's eyes grew wide with a horrible understanding. "Oh Kami... What a horrible place, but it would be perfect." Closing his eyes, he cradled a pain in his heart for the boy. "What happened? I assume they went there?"  
  
"Yes, they went. Himura, Aoshi, and Seta-san, but they never actually made it into the prison. They ran into Lady Katsura herself and her Man in Black."  
  
"Kuso!"  
  
"There was a confrontation that left the Man in Black dead, Aoshi injured, and Lady Katsura loose in the city. However; the problem is that no one knows where inside the prison young Myojin is. Only the Man in Black knew the exact location. Himura's plan was to lay in wait for  
  
him, and follow him inside to the place the boy was being kept, but he died before the information could be told." Okina's face reflected the weight of his sadness. Himura tried to get the information out of the woman, but she refused to tell him anything. He is not even sure she knows how to get to the boy."  
  
"Well, if she does not, then that gives us time to find him."  
  
"No, it does not. Myojin-san will suffocate from lack of clean air before any of you could reach him. There are no air vents in the prison. The only way clean air is exchanged is when the outer doors are opened to the outside tunnels."  
  
"Oh God...." Large brown hands rose to cover Hiko's distressed face. "Is there nothing we can do? Nothing at all?"  
  
"Nothing. There is no one alive who knows the way in and out of the prison maze. You know it was built as a labyrinth to keep prisoners from escaping. They would die or be recaptured long before they ever found their way out."  
  
"Yes, I knew that. So we are doomed? Is that it? We give up?"   
  
"Listen to me, Hiko." Okina leaned forward into the large man's face. "The only way in and out of there is a map, and the only maps ever made were kept by the Shinsengumi. After the end of the Revolution, they were all destroyed by the Meiji so the prison could never be used again.  
  
There are no more maps."  
  
Hiko's mind was spinning wildly. "The Shinsengumi... Saitoh!" He was muttering under his breath and Okina could not hear him. Suddenly he leapt to his feet and raced from the room bounding across the yard to the fusuma of Kenshin's room. He knocked on it sharply and called out  
  
Kenshin's name in a loud desperate voice, but it was Kaoru that opened the door. Hiko sucked in his breath when he took in the look of utter despair about her.  
  
"Kaoru..." He whispered in concern completely forgetting all honorifics. At the sound of her real name spoken with such gentle concern on his lips, she burst into tears and walked into his strong arms pressing her face against his broad chest. Hiko looked over her head and saw Kenshin sitting on the floor, his sakobatou at his side. His head was bent low, hands folded in his lap. The slump of his shoulders shouted his grief in volumes within the silent room. "Kenshin..."   
  
Hiko helped Kaoru back into the room, closed the door behind them, and took her over to where Kenshin sat on the floor. He assisted her to kneel and then sat across from her so the three of them formed a small circle. The sadness and oppression in the small room was suffocating, and he wanted so much to reach out to both of them and offer his comfort, but he did not know how so he tried to offer them hope instead.  
  
"I may know a way to save Myojin-san, yet." Kenshin's head shot up, and deep purple eyes filled with terrible anguish locked gazes with Hiko's emerald greeen. "It is a small chance, but it is a chance."  
  
"What is it? Any chance is a chance." Kenshin's voice was a raspy shadow of its usual tenor. "I am out of options here, so there is nothing to lose. One way or the other, Yahiko may be lost to me anyway. I must take every chance. Tell me your idea."  
  
"Okina mentioned that the prison was pretty much used exclusively by the Shinsengumi during the Revolution."  
  
"That is correct."  
  
"He also mentioned that they had it built as a maze purposefully to reduce the number of successful escapes because of the difficulties encountered by prisoners while trying to find the way out."  
  
"That is also true."  
  
"The Shinsengumi kept maps of the prison. Okina said the Meiji destroyed them after the Revolution so the prison could not be used again."  
  
"Yes, they did that. The Government Officials felt it was not a humane enough structure even for prisoners. Hundreds of them died from simple suffocation during the War because there were not any working clean air exchanges, but because it is directly under the City, it could not be destroyed without causing damage to the upper ground levels. So they just burned the maps and destroyed all the keys." Kenshin became curious. "What are you getting at, Master?"  
  
"Saitoh."  
  
"Saitoh?" Kenshin and Kaoru looked at each other in bewilderment. "What does Saitoh have to do with any of this?"  
  
"Saitoh was the leader of the 4th squadron of the Shinsengumi and considered a valuable officer within their ranks. He also held the distinction of being known as the 'Wolf of Mibu', which was no small thing in itself. But most of all, he was one smart sonofabitch."  
  
"You think he kept a map of the prison. Don't you?"  
  
"I am thinking it is a very good possibility. Saitoh is no fool, and I cannot see him giving over every single piece of information the Shinsengumi had just because the Government told him too."  
  
"You do have a point there." A small spark of hope lit in the dark purple eyes. "What do you propose?"  
  
"We ask him. He is in this thing just as deeply as the rest of us. If he has a copy of the map, he will give it to us. I have no doubt about that."  
  
"Are you serious? You really believe he would part with something like that?" Kenshin looked skeptical.  
  
"Yes, I do. Saitoh is an asshole, but he's not a stupid asshole." Hiko offered a bland smile. "Besides, he is my friend and I trust him." Kenshin gapped at that remark. Hiko and Saitoh friends?? Wonders and miracles would never cease in the world if he had lived to see a friendship form between the two most antagonistic men he had ever known.  
  
"What is wrong with you? Do you not think I can have friends? Baka-deshi. Get up off your ass and get moving. We need to get to the Station and find out if he has a map because if he does not, then we are going to have to come up with another idea. Because I am not ready to live in Hell yet. I can wait until I die to do that." He rose gracefully to his feet. "So get up and move, Kenshin, and find that flying maniac of a son you adopted. We should take him with us too."   
  
Then he was gone out the door.  
  
"Kenshin?" Kaoru's voice was anxious and hopeful as she turned his face to meet her eyes.  
  
"I do not know, koishii." He cupped her cheek and studyied her worried face. "I do not know, but suddenly there is another chance to find our son, and I am not going to waste it." He leaned into her, parted her lips with his, and kissed her with loving tenderness. "Aishiteru Kaoru." He murmured against her mouth. "We must keep trying until there is nothing left to do."  
  
"I love you too, Saiai." Please come back to me."  
  
"I will. We will all come back. The three of us together. Myself and our two sons, and then you and I will make this mismatched group of souls into a real Ikke, and we will have a real Ikka together. I promise you."  
  
"A Family and a Home." Kaoru cupped Kenshin's face in both her hands and kissed his mouth. "You remember that, my beautiful ruroni. You remember what you have to come back to, and what is waiting here for you."  
  
"I will remember, koishii if you will remember something for me."  
  
"What?" Blue sapphires gazed lovingly at him.  
  
Kenshin pressed his nose against hers, threaded his fingers through her long ebony hair, and whispered softly. "I am not a 'ruroni' anymore."  
  
"No." She breathed back as her hands stroked his smooth face. "You are my Aijou, my Aman, and my Anata." A smiled crossed his face for the first time since coming back from the prison the day before, and it turned his eyes back to their usual brilliant violet.  
  
"You are my Tenshi, Kaoru. My light and my Life." His head tilted slightly and his mouth found hers again. 'You are my Aisai. Aishiteru beautiful Kaoru. Aishieteru." 


	15. Searching the Darkness

Glossary: sho-ji=outside door, tabi=split toe socks, ikka=home, bakumtsu=revolution, The Black Webb=Nick-name of the Onniwabanshuu (my own), kuso=bullshit or shit, kirei=beautiful, koishii=dear or darling,   
  
shin-yuu=friend, baka-deshi=stupid apprentice, Otou=father, Aisoku=beloved son,   
  
  
  
Chapter 15  
  
  
  
Searching the Darkness  
  
The office door slammed loudly as Saitoh shoved it closed. "You want WHAT from me? Are you insane, Hiko? What makes you think I even have what your asking me for?"  
  
"Because you are one of the smartest sonofabitches in Japan, and you would not have let every single copy of that Map get destroyed. You would have kept one because, in your mind, who knew when you might be able to use it to your advantage." Hiko's mouth was turned up in a  
  
knowing sarcastic smile as he watched the look of discomfort cross his friends thin face.  
  
"Alright, maybe I do have one, but what would you need it for?" He hastily lit a cigarette and angrily seated himself behind his desk to glare at the tall black haired man in front of him.  
  
"What do you think I need it for, you idiot?" He sneered. "I want to get in to the prison labyrinth, and then find my way back out." Stupid question.  
  
"I figured that much out for myself, you arrogant clod. What I want to know, Is why you want to go into the prison at all." Fucking idiot.  
  
"Actually, it is not just me who wants to go in. Kenshin, Soujirou, Aoshi, Myself, and perhaps You will be going."  
  
Saitoh's harsh yellow eyes narrowed dangerously as he favored his friend with an icy glare. "Why in the bloody hell would 'I' want to go with the likes of you and that rabble into the bowels of the City? Are we looking for your long lost relatives, Hiko? It is a fact, the largest rats in Kyoto live in the underground tunnels."  
  
Hiko smiled broadly. This was the Saitoh he liked and knew best. Welcome back, Saitoh. "No, not my relatives... Kenshin's. The boy is down there."  
  
"You are insane. All that sake' you drink has finally pickled your brain."  
  
"That could possibly be quite true, but not about this. Kenshin knows he is down there."  
  
Topaz eyes peered at Hiko from beneath thin dark brows. "How?"  
  
"The Man in Black told him himself just before he died and took the directions to the boy's cell with him into hell."  
  
"You really are serious, aren't you." Saitoh raised up and met Hiko's gaze levely.  
  
"Yes I am. Kenshin also ran into Lady Katsura herself who admitted the boy was down there, but she would not tell Kenshin if she knew where he was." An angry frown crossed his stern face. "We do not know if she can reach him or not, but we have to. If we do not... "  
  
"He will suffocate in a matter of hours."   
  
"You know then. You know the danger he is in."  
  
"Yes. It was the only flaw in the design of the prison when the Shinsegumi built it. Otherwise, it was the perfect place of incarceration." Saitoh's face grew angry and strained. "Do you know when the last time anyone was in there?"  
  
"Yesterday morning."  
  
"KUSO!" He swore loudly. "Come on!" He shouted as he bolted up from his desk. "There is not much time left. We have to go NOW!" The bottom drawer of a filing cabinet was roughly torn open and a small flat wooden box extracted, and then the two men quickly left the room. Saitoh came to an abrupt halt as he was greeted by three more serious faces waiting outside.  
  
"Well," He glanced around the stoic group of men. "It would appear we are all present and accounted for." Nodding at Kenshin, he produced the flat black box from his breast pocket. "Shall we be on our way then?"   
  
Kenshin looked at the box as if it were a sacred scroll from Buddha himself, and then turned his grateful gaze to the tall thin policeman. "Thank-you Saitoh." He bowed deeply offering his most sincere gratitude to his once long-time enemy. "You have my deepest gratitude."  
  
Saitoh was shaken more than he wanted to admit. He had never seen the Battousai so humble especially towards him, and it was making him feel very uncomfortable because he did not know how to react.  
  
"Yes, yes of course. Enough pleasantries. We must leave post haste. There is not time to spare for all this drivel when the boy is probably starting to suffocate as we speak. He has had no fresh air exchange since yesterday morning. Even if he is alone down there, it is still a very long time." Long legs carried Saitoh out the front door of the station. "We must go now, and we must go quickly. Come, I know a short-cut that will get us there faster than going through the streets." And in a moment the 5 men had disappeared across the street and around the corner.  
  
"I wish he would stop doing this all the time." Sargeant Izukia heaved a sigh of resigned frustration as he watched his Captain leave once again without explanation. "Just keep everything running, Sargeant." He mimicked Saitoh's sharp sarcastic voice as he returned to his desk and sat down in a huff.  
  
******************  
  
A quiet knock brought Tokio to her sho-ji. She was completely unprepared when she opened the door and found a lovely young dark-haired woman waiting for her. She took in the long raven black hair that was pulled back into a dark purple ribbon that matched the obi tied around the light-blue kimono she wore. Huge sapphire blue eyes, that looked and even darker blue against the pale blue and dark purple silk, regarded her in a kind expectant manner.   
  
"I am sorry, do I know you?" Tokio sounded a bit nervous wondering if this could be someone from one of her painting classes, but she could not place the pretty face.  
  
"No, Hajime-san you do not know me, but I know who you are, and I have come to bring you to spend the day with my friends and myself."  
  
"Ex-excuse me? How do you know my name?" Surprise colored her voice.  
  
"I know Saitoh, and I know Hiko-san."  
  
"You know my husband?" Tokio's eyes narrowed as jealousy gleamed in their brown depths. Who was this woman who dared call Saitoh by his first name without its proper honorific attached?  
  
"Yes, I know Saitoh, but do not worry. I do not have any designs on him. I have a very good man of my own, thank you very much, so I do not need yours. And how I know him, is a story that can wait for another time to be told. Right now I am simply here as your friend to help you  
  
through something very difficult. It is something terrible we have all been facing for some months now, but you have just become a part of it today." Kaoru smiled gently. "It is something you have a right to know, but should not have to bare alone." She bowed her head sadly and the smile disappeared showing her pain. "None of us have been able to bare it alone."  
  
"What are you talking about? What does all of this have to do with Saitoh and I?"  
  
"It has to do with you and Saitoh because right now he is with Hiko-san, my fiancé'Kenshin, our adopted son Soujirou-san, and a very serious ninja named Aoshi, and they are trying to find a way to get into the underground mazes beneath the city."  
  
"Why??" Tokio's face filled with shock and fear.  
  
"Because, a young boy name Myojin Yahiko whom Kenshin and I have also taken in as our son, has be torn from us and locked in the old prison down there, and Saitoh may have a Map of the labyrinth left over from the War so that they can go in and look for him without getting lost."  
  
"Dear Kami-sama, who would do such a thing?"  
  
"A horrible woman. A woman who is determined to take Yahiko's life tomorrow night during the Moon Festival." Kaoru chocked back a sob and covered her mouth. She was still standing outside Tokio's sho-ji. "She believes she can use his spirit-ki to open a doorway to Hell that can stay open forever"  
  
Tokio grabbed Kaoru's wrist and pulled her forcibly through the door and closed it behind her. "Are you insane. My neighbors will hear you." She faced Kaoru's pale face in shocked anger. "This woman you are talking about, Saitoh has the police looking for her, right?"  
  
"No."  
  
"NO?? Why not? She is obviously insane if she believes she can do what you just said. She will be committing cold-blooded murder."  
  
"Yes it will be murder, and it will be in cold blood, but she knows exactly what she is doing and it is very real." Kaoru's voice trailed off into a pain filled whisper.  
  
"Do you know what you are saying?"  
  
"Yes I do. I am saying that there is a Witch right here in Kyoto, and she intends to use my son's spirit energy in some kind of ritual to open a doorway between this world and Hell that will stay open forever. She intends to feed the people of Japan to the Devil, and in return, he will give her anything she wants."  
  
Tokio had begun to shake uncontrollably. "What does she want?"  
  
"Japan itself. She wants to be an Empress over the entire country, and if those men do not stop her from killing my son, she will have it all and the rest of us will be utterly lost."  
  
"You truly believe all of this? How can you believe this?"  
  
Kaoru grabbed Tokio by the shoulders and let her intense blue eyes bore into the other woman's timid face. "How can I believe? How? Because I have witnessed the strangest things I have ever seen in my life since all of this started. I watched Kenshin, Hiko-san, Aoshi, and Soujirou viciously battle a horde of something that was not there, and it was so real that Soujirou nearly died. I saw a man so afraid to go to sleep that he had become nothing more that a quivering mass of nerves and flesh because he believed there was something in his dreams that was waiting to kill him, and it was true. I watched my own beloved captured within the bonds of a nightmare that was also so real I could not wake him up as he thrashed and flailed on his futon fighting for his life." Tears started to slide down her flushed face. "That is how I can believe it. I have seen the strongest men reduced to frightened sobbing mice right before my eyes. How could I have witnessed all of this and not believe??"  
  
Tokio stared into Kaoru's fierce tear filled eyes and read the honesty of her heart within the deep blue pain filled pools. "I am forced to believe you." She whispered. "What can we do?"  
  
"Hope." Was Kaoru's reply. "Saitoh and Kenshin were the first to discover the things this horrible woman has been doing. They know the most about it. The others have attached themselves to the cause because of their own reasons, but the central concern is the life of mine and Kenshin's son. Nothing can happen if she does not have him."  
  
"Are they in danger now?" Worry was evident in Tokio's voice.  
  
"Yes. They are always in danger."  
  
"Oh." She turned and moved to put on her white tabi and sandals. "I am ready to leave." Joining Kaoru at the door, Tokio walked out of her Ikka and the two women headed down the thin dirt road.  
  
"Will you tell me everything else while we walk?" She asked timidly, feeling very embarrassed.  
  
"Of course I will." Kaoru placed a comforting arm around Tokio's shoulders. "By the way, My name it Kamiyu Kaoru. You can call me Kaoru if you would like." She smiled.  
  
"I would like that very much. Please, call me Tokio. It would be nice to have a friend." And she put her arm around Kaoru's waist and laid her head on the younger woman's shoulder. "I have not had one for a very long time."  
  
"Well you are in luck. When we get back to the Aoiya, I will introduce you to everyone, and you will have a lot of friends." An infectious giggle escaped Kaoru's lips and Tokio could not help but laugh a little with her.  
  
"It feels good to laugh again too. Thank-you Kaoru."  
  
"You are welcome, Tokio. It is one of the ways we are coping with all of this. If we cannot laugh at something, we would probably give into our tears constantly. That would not do us or our men any good. We promised to be strong, and we will be."  
  
"Does Saitoh know you have come to take me back with you?"  
  
"No, but he will once Kenshin tells him. I hope he does not get too upset." A wicked grin crossed her pretty face. "Not that I mind much if he does or not."  
  
"Hmmmm. Something tells me you do not like Saitoh very much. Is this true?" Tokio raised her head off Kaoru's shoulder and looked at the girl.  
  
"Well.... I am working on it." They both laughed and continued to walk down the street. That was another subject they could talk about later. Kaoru had promised to explain everything about the current situation to Tokio, and so she did as they walked back to the Aoiya.  
  
By the time they reached the outer sho-ji, Tokio had been completely informed of everything Kaoru knew. She had told her about the witches, the children being murdered as human sacrifices, the General and Lady Katsura's alleged plan to take over Japan, and the stories about the murders that had started the whole thing. She explained about the curse that had been put on Miko Ishida that had finally led to the strange battle with the Horde in the Aoiya courtyard, and she told her the  
  
amazing story of how Aoshi had given up part of his ki to heal Kenshin's damaged one. Then she told her about how Kenshin reached into Soujirou's mind to save him after he was wounded in the battle with the Horde.  
  
Tokio was stunned and speechless with a type of fear she had never felt. "How can so much evil come from one person?" She asked as they rang the bell outside the gate.  
  
"She is a Witch. Apparently she is a Spaniard directly from Spain, and there were some rumors about her having to leave there because of problems with the Inquisition. But I do not really know." The gate opened and revealed a tired looking Misao. "Misao, you look awful. Did you not sleep again?"  
  
"No, not really. Who is this?" She pointed at Tokio questioningly.  
  
"This is who Hiko-san was talking about this morning. This is Saitoh's wife, Hajime Tokio. Tokio this is Misao. She is one of those new friends I was telling you about." Kaoru smiled and patted Misao's cheek affectionately. "She is usually a bit more lively than this."   
  
Misao offered a wan smile. "Hello Tokio-san. Kaoru is right. Usually I drive everbody crazy 'cause I never sit still. So enjoy the boredom while you can." She reached out and pulled the woman inside. "It is really nice to meet you. We were all very shocked to find out Saitoh had a wife."  
  
"So it would seem. It does not sound like you are very fond of him either." Tokio shook her head in amusement. "Am I among friends or cordial enemies?"   
  
"Friends!" Misao sounded indignant. "It doesn't matter how we feel about Saitoh, we accept you with open arms." Suddenly she looked very embarrassed. "That did not sound very good did it?" Tokio burst into laughter followed by Kaoru.  
  
"Oh what a dear girl." Tokio hugged Misao. "I like you already." Misao breathed a sigh of relief knowing she had not offended the woman. She was still having a difficult time accepting the fact that someone like Saitoh had a wife, but now that she had seen Tokio, she could not believe he had such a pretty wife. And she was nice too.   
  
"Forgive us, Tokio." Kaoru began. "But we all met Saitoh under rather extenuating circumstance, and it was not a pleasant meeting for any involved. Including Saitoh. It was not very long ago that we were all enemies."  
  
"All of you? Even with these people?"  
  
"In a manner of speaking, but fate has a way of working things out and now we have become family to each other." Kaoru hugged Misao. "We like it better that way."  
  
"I cannot imagine Saitoh being enemies with people like you." Tokio looked confused.  
  
"Well perhaps it would make more sense if I told you exactly who my fiancé' is and exactly what these people are." Kaoru took Tokio by the hand and led her over to a shaded grassy area where they sat down. Misao sat down next to Tokio. "You see," Kaoru began in a quiet even voice,  
  
"Kenshin came to live at my fathers dojo about six months after he and my mother died. He was a ruroni who happened along and helped me clear my father's name when an enemy would have seen it ruined. Then after that it seemed I started to pick up more wandering souls who came to live at  
  
the dojo with me until I had something like a family, but I am straying away from my own point. Kenshin was always getting us out of trouble or he was getting into trouble because someone was always trying to kill him."  
  
"Good Heavens... Why?" Tokio's brown eyes were wide with shock.  
  
"Well... because Kenshin is not just any Samaria."  
  
Tokio's face register puzzlement. "You never told me he was a Samaria?"  
  
"Didn't I? I am sorry. He is a very strong Samaria, and also a very well known Samaria from the Bakumatsa. Because of that, there always seems to be someone who wants to fight him and try to kill him."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"For the fame. The pleasure. The distinction of being the one to defeat the one who was known to be undefeatable." Kaoru's blue eyes wandered away and looked off into the sky. "It did not matter that he had left those days long behind him and only wanted a life of peace now. They just kept coming. They keep coming. Maybe someday they will stop and let him have peace."  
  
"Who is he, Kaoru?" Tokio put a gentle hand on Kaoru's arm.  
  
"Kenshin was the Hitokiri Battousai. He was the manslayer."  
  
"The manslayer?" Tokio's mind reeled with that piece of information. Saitoh used to talk about the Battousai, and how one day he would be the one to spill his blood on the ground for all the Shinsengumi he had killed. "He was a mortal enemy of Saitoh's."  
  
"Yes, and now they are working together... again."  
  
"Again?"  
  
"They worked together two years ago to destroy Mikoto Shishio, and lately Kenshin has been doing a type of 'spy' work for Saitoh as well. It seems they have come to some sort of an understanding."  
  
"Unbelievable. Saitoh hated the Battousai more than any other man alive. He was sworn to kill him." Her face was pale and full of disbelief. "How can it be?"  
  
"Like I said. Fate has a way of bringing people together. Just like the people who live here in the Aoiya. They are not just simple ordinary people, Tokio. They are well trained deadly ninja, and members of the famed Onniwabanshuu."  
  
"I have heard of them. They are syndicated all over Japan. I have even heard them called the Black Webb because of how they seem to be everywhere all at once. They are some of the most deadly assassins and thieves in the country." Shocked eyes turned to Misao. "You are truly one of these?"  
  
"I am. I am the leader of this branch in Kyoto, but we are not assassins and thieves. We are information brokers and body guards for hire. The days of murder for money are long gone, Hajime-san. Though I cannot deny they did exist." Misao rested a strong friendly hand on Tokio's shoulder. "We allied ourselves with Himura during the fight with Shishio and helped him save Japan from being taken over by a crazy man. Now, we help the Government with our network by providing information they need. At a fair price, of course." A crafty smile crossed her perky face. "You do not just give it away for free you know. Some of the stuff they want is hard to come by."  
  
Tokio was completely dumfounded. "This is the most incredible and outrageous thing I have ever heard. Saitoh working with the Battousai, and the Onniwabanshuu working with the Meiji... willingly. Gosh, the next thing you know, Angel's will be dropping from the sky and handing out wings to the mob." Kaoru and Misao dissolved into giggles and fell over to roll on the grass like little girls. Tokio laughed at them indulgently until all at once she found herself grabbed on both sides and yanked down on the grass with them. Unable to help herself any longer, she gave in and let the little girl giggles bubble over her lips.  
  
She had not felt like this in years, and even though she knew Saitoh and the others were in immanent danger, it felt so good to just let go of all her cares and laugh. And it felt so good to have someone to do it with.  
  
*****************  
  
"KUSO!" Saitoh swore. "There is a huge lock on this door. You might have mentioned that on the way over, Battousai." The heavily laced sarcastic voice floated up the stone stairwell making everyone smile... except Kenshin.  
  
"How the hell was I supposed to know there was a lock on the door?" Kenshin swore in impatience. "We never made it down here. Can it be broken?"  
  
CLINK! CLANK!  
  
"I guess so." Hiko was being his usual helpful sardonic self. In a twisted sort of way, he was enjoying himself. He had never heard Kenshin curse, but lately he seemed to be doing it quite regularly.   
  
"All right, at least we can get through the door." Aoshi growled. He was still suffering from a splitting headache and very bruised pride after being downed by the small green-eyed woman the day before, and his mood was at least as impatient as Kenshin's. Very unusual. Very interesting. Very not Aoshi.   
  
"Everyone be quiet." Saitoh barked in a low voice as he pushed against the old door forcing it open. It scraped against the ground and the rusted hinges squeaked in protest, but eventually the door opened revealing a yawning cavern behind its aged wood. "Well, it is definitely dark in there." Saitoh stated the obvious, Hiko muffled a chuckle, and Kenshin exploded.  
  
"Of course it is dark in there, you blathering idiot. It is under the ground for God's sake. Now move your ass already so we can get going. You are the one who said we did not have much time. REMEMBER!"  
  
"Yes, Battousai I remember." Saitoh was nonplused by Kenshin's angry outburst, and merely turned to hand several matches over his shoulder. "Very well, let us be on our way. Hiko would you be so kind  
  
as to light the torches so we can see our way through this rat infested Hell." He may have sounded nonchalaunt, but he was far from feeling that way. Inside he was very much afraid they would find the boy already dead. In one sense that would be good because that would stop Lady Katsura from using him in the ritual, but on the other hand, the grief it would cause these people would be catastrophic. He opened the flat black box and retrieved the old yellowed parchment, and unfolded it carefully. Printed in intricate detail was a full schematic of the underground tunnels and the prison labyrinth. He studied it intently for several moments until he was certain he knew exactly where they were, and then he began to walk forward into the darkness. "Come," He spoke softly  
  
hearing his voice echo down the tunnel. "This way." And the other four men followed him in single file each carrying his own torch.  
  
"You are certain, Saitoh?" Kenshin asked in a worried voice as the light behind them faded and was lost in the inky black of the tunnel.  
  
"Yes. I am certain." They continued to walk a few more meters and then Saitoh stopped. He turned sharply to the right and raised his torch up to the wall. The others waited while he walked up and down the length of the wall several times studying the contours of the brickwork. Then he walked past them backtracking a short distance.  
  
"Ahhh," He said in triumph. "Here it is."  
  
"Here what is?" Aoshi asked.  
  
"The second door."  
  
"Is there another lock, Hajime-san?" Asked Soujirou from somewhere in the darkness behind everyone else.  
  
"No. The Shinsengumi did not think they needed a lock on the inner door. They never believed any prisoner would ever make it this far." The door swung open easily. "Hmmmm. This door has been well maintained, or recently put to use." He disappeared inside and everyone followed in suit.  
  
The five men found themselves in a very small office-like room that barely fit them all inside. There was one door out to the tunnels, and one door out to the prison. Hiko noted that the door to the prison was left wide open. Whoever was using this place was definitely not worried about their prisoner escaping. Indeed, they were not even worried about anyone finding their prisoner. The arrogance of the situation irked him.   
  
"Where do we go from here?" Kenshin sounded tired, but his determination and pure will would not let him give up until every option was exhausted. Hiko admired him for that, and for his willingness to become responsible and available for the boy and young Seta-san. He was not sure where Kenshin had learned the ability to be a Father like this, but Hiko was forced to admit over and over that he was turning out to be a very good one.  
  
"We step into the maze, Battousai, and we start looking inside each cell and praying. You can start calling the boy's name, and hope he can hear you. It would be helpful if he could lead us to him with his voice." Saitoh met Kenshin's eyes and for a rare moment the two men stood on even ground in their concern over the 12 year old boy wasting away somewhere in the darkness in front of them. "Let's move. Every moment counts. Everyone stays within torch light distance. It would be  
  
very easy to become lost in here."   
  
"Do not worry, Hajime-san." Soujirou's happy voice rose above the group. "I came prepared to help us find our way out as well as your Map."  
  
Everyone turned to look at the smiling young swordsman. He smiled and held up a medium sized white sack tied off with a string. "Geisha beads." He announced happily and Hiko burst out laughing.  
  
"Only you would think of such a thing, Seta-san." He draped a long heavy arm around the smaller man. "Multicolored beads dropped on the ground to show where we have been. Personally, I like the idea. Wish I had thought of it myself." Grinning widely, he hugged Soujirou and then shoved him up next to Saitoh. "There you go, Kid. Do your thing."   
  
Kenshin smiled. The things brothers are willing to do for each other. At least he knew now where Soujirou had disappeared to after they brought Aoshi back to the Aoiya.   
  
"Then let us be on our way. Remember what I said, stay close. If someone gets lost, I am not coming after them." Saitoh checked the Map and then walked through the open door into the darkness of the prison.  
  
Several hours had passed and the men had found nothing in their search except rotted skeletons and over sized rats, but they continued on relentlessly. None of them mentioned the amount of time that had passed. After all, they had left the outer door open so some fresh air was getting in, but each of them knew Yahiko's life was still very much in peril.   
  
"How far have we come, Saitoh?" Hiko pulled up next to his friend and spoke in a very hushed voice.  
  
"We are about a third of the way through. I am not holding out very much hope."  
  
"Why not? He is a very strong boy."  
  
"Yes, I know he is, but Himura has been calling him for hours, and we have heard nothing. Sound always carried very well through the labyrinth. There are holes punched in the walls all over the place. It was how the guards stayed in contact with each other without leaving their posts." Saitoh turned a worried face towards Hiko. "If he is alive and awake, we should have heard him long ago."  
  
"Dammit!" Hiko's glance shot over his shoulder and quickly raked over Kenshin then returned to Saitoh's face. "You know we have to keep going."  
  
"I know. Do not tell him what I have said." Saitoh dropped his eyes back to the map. "He has been through enough. If the worst has happened, it can wait until it is discovered to be made known." Hiko nodded in agreement and walked away to resume his searching of the small cramped cells.  
  
  
  
Kenshin leaned heavily against the cold damp wall to rest. It was hard to breath in here, and he found himself wondering how Yahiko could have survived in such a horrible place for six days, or if he had even survived at all. He hung his head low as he realized he may have to face the fact that the boy could already be dead inside one of these small locked boxes. Pain seized his heart as he considered how he would feel if he had to carry Yahiko's body out of this place, and then he  
  
wondered how he would tell Kaoru. He recalled his vehemence in denying to allow Soujirou to die after the battle with the Horde, and how he had forced the young man to come back from the other side of reality. But he could not do that here. Yahiko was not lost in an alternate reality. He was not laying curled up inside of a protective sphere inside his frozen mind where Kenshin could find him and bring him home. He was locked away in the dark inside a filthy cell with barely enough air to breath (perhaps not enough) and rats for companions. Was there enough time left to save him before he suffocated? Or was it already too late?  
  
"Yahiko..." It was a whispered cry of grief from a father's breaking heart. "Please, answer me. Let me know you are alive. I need to know I have not failed you. Please hear my voice and answer me." Kenshin pushed himself up away from the wall and finsihed searching the corridor he was in. He dropped several of the colorful beads Soujirou had given him so he could find his way back, and then walked around the corner. The sight that greeted him stopped him mid stride. His eyes went wide and changed from violet to burning amber gold.  
  
Elsbeth stood half crouched with one arm wrapped around Yahiko's chest holding him tightly against her body while her other hand held a long razor sharp blade pressed into the curve of his throat beneath the chin. There was a thin line of blood trickling along the blade where the tip was stuck into the flesh.  
  
Yahiko was trying to remain perfectly still. His sherry colored eyes looked at Kenshin with a mixture of courage, confidence, and fear. It was plain to see that if he moved the thin edged blade would sink into his throat the rest of the way slicing open the main artery in his neck and killing him.   
  
Kenshin met Elsbeth's wide eyed silver gaze with malevolence. His hatred for this woman was growing by the second as he watched tiny droplets of Yahiko's blood drip off the dagger and fall to the floor. His hand rested threateningly on the hilt of his sakobatou.  
  
"You will let him go, Elsbeth. That you will." The voice that came from Kenshin's mouth was one neither Elsbeth nor Yahiko had ever heard before. Elsbeth felt a primitive shiver of fear race up her spine as the sound he made washed over her along with the threatening power of his ki.   
  
"I do not th-think so." She tried to sound firm, but found herself stammering in the face of his strength. "I will never give him back. I will kill him first, Himura." Yahiko sucked in a breath as she pressed the blade a little farther into his throat. More blood trickled out over the shining steel.  
  
"Release him now, and I will let you go." Kenshin laid his torch on the floor and placed his right hand next to his left along the hilt of his sword, and Elsbeth heard the audible 'click' of his thumb pushing the blade free of the sheath. "Release him or I will kill you, Elsbeth."  
  
"I do not believe you." She whispered and started to back up away from him into the darkness. "It is not within you to kill a woman you once loved, Himura."  
  
"Are you certain you want to put that theory to the test, Kirei?" His voice lowered to a growl as he maneuvered himself into the Battou jutsu, and waited for her to reply.  
  
"You would not...." Elsbeth's eyes darted back and forth looking for a quick escape route, but there was not one available. She had used her copy of the Map to find an alternate entrance to the tunnels, but she had not been prepared for the men to arrive and catch her off guard. A hasty escape had never been a consideration of hers because no one was ever supposed to know about this place or what treasure she had hidden inside of its musty hollows.   
  
"You have a copy of the Map, don't you, kirei? Where did you get it? Did the dear old General keep a copy for himself as a trophy after the War, and you just decided to barrow it for a little while? Is that it?" Kenshin watched the shock dawn on her stunned face. "So, that is how you got here without us seeing you. You used another entrance on the Map to get to his cell. You could not use the usual entrance because you knew it was not secret anymore. My, my, but aren't you a clever little 'devil'." A vicious smile curled his lips giving him an evil look when coupled with his burning golden eyes.   
  
The sound of her screaming intuition telling her to drop the boy and run was ripping through Elsbeth's brain. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head sharply trying to make them be quiet. Then, glaring with malevolent hatred at Kenshin, she spat out a challenge.  
  
"You think you know so much, don't you? Well, you do not know so much as you think. You do know where the doorway is going to be made, and you do not know what hour it is to be done, and there are other secrets of mine that you will never know." Wicked laughter filled the corridor and bounced off the walls throughout the entire prison, and the other four men lifted their heads in response then ran as quickly as they could towards the source dropping colored beads as they went.  
  
"No, I do not know any of those things, but I do know one thing for certain, kirei." Amber eyes narrowed into burning golden slits of hatred.  
  
"What do you think you know, koishii.' She hissed like a cornered cat, her eyes narrow and glowing a silver-green.  
  
"If you do not release my son in the next 60 seconds, I am going to cut your head off." Elsbeth's eyes blew wide open and became massive swirling ponds of liquid silver and her mouth fell open in utter disbelief at the plainly spoken words.   
  
Beneath her blade the pulse in Yahiko's throat began to quicken and his eyes began to burn a dark bloody red as he focused on the pulsing power of Kenshin's spirit ki. He could feel it molding itself around him. Instinctively he pushed his own ki outward leaning into the fierce heat and matched its energy vibrations. The power of the two ki's was being melded into one pure energy force that was being focused into a single purpose inside Yahiko's young body. Elsbeth was so absorbed with Kenshin she failed to notice the rise in the boy's energy signiture until it was too late, but then there was no time to prepare because everything happened all at once.  
  
Four men flew around the corner, swords drawn prepared for battle.  
  
Kenshin crouched down into battou jutsu preparing to draw his sakobato and rush the witch.   
  
Elsbeth snarled and pulled the thin dagger out of Yahiko's throat and flipped it over in her hand with lightening speed as she targeted Kenshin's chest for the throw, hoping to kill or wound him and give herself enough time to disappear into the labrinth with the boy, but Myojin Yahiko was nearly filled to bursting with furious spirit energy. Part his own and part Kenshin's that he had somehow absorbed, and he was afraid, he was tired, but most of all he was angry. He was sick to death of this whole damned thing, and he was sick and tired of 'Her'. Yahiko wanted to go home. He wanted to go back to Kaoru and Kenshin, and he wanted to go NOW. So, as the tension and desire to be rid of her grew in his mind and the fury and rage swelled in his soul, his grip on the enormous energy ball roiling inside of him began to slip, but that was all right with him this time. It was just what he wanted. He was not going to worry about losing control this time. He wanted to lose control. He wanted to get rid of Her once and for all. He wanted to kill Her, so... with the great heaving cry of a young lion, Yahiko just let it go.  
  
The length of the corridor exploded into a brilliant blaze of bloody red light, followed by the scream of something wild and furious; something unnatural and out of control, and wielding a horrific amount of power. The pure force of that power threw everyone back against the walls, and the sounds of a thousand and more steel doors crashing and tearing themselves apart could be heard echoing throughout the prison. Dust filled the air as the walls and ceiling began crumbling, and then the ground began trembling violently beneath frightened feet. Unable to balance on the wildly shifting floor, they all fell to their hands and knees.  
  
"Yahiko?!" Kenshin screamed the boy's name as he tried to stand up on the shifting floor. He could not see through the surging dust and floating debris, but the terror he felt over his son's life was so great that he ignored the danger to himself, and staggered into the lurching self-destructing corridor.  
  
"Kenshin!" Hiko yelled after the red-haired man as he disappeared into the dust. "Kenshin!" 'Oh Dear God, No!' He was trying to stand, and he was trying to help the others as well, but it was next to impossible to find any balance on this cursed ground that would not stand still. All the four men could do was hang onto the walls and each other and pray, and wait. Wait for the world to stand still again, and for the dust to settle. Wait to find out what was happening inside the heaving  
  
hell that was the corridor.   
  
"Otou?!" Soujirou cried as tears started to slide down his face. He watched the last trace of Kenshin's faded pink gi disappear into the roiling dust cloud even as he lost contact with his burning ki. "Little brother?!" 'Nooo! Please, God. Please no.' "Fatthheerr!!"  
  
An eternity seem to pass before the ground started to settle back to its normal solidity, but it was difficult for anyone to stand, and they found themselves holding onto the walls for support until their  
  
equilibrium returned. Nausea and dizziness overwhelmed each of them for several moments, but the feelings gradually disappeared.  
  
Hiko and Soujirou were standing together staring into the slowly settling dust. As the cloud dissipated, all that was left of the cell block was a massive pile of rubble.  
  
Every one of the 10 cells had been utterly destroyed. The walls had imploded in on themselves, the heavy steel doors were twisted and bent into grotesque shapes; some had even been torn into pieces or crushed into unrecognizable balls of jagged metal. Debris was piled high in every direction. Huge jagged blocks of mortar and cement had been tossed across the corridor like tiny stones, and the old wooden framework was littered about the floor like long ragged tooth picks. It looked like a battlefield, and in the midst of this destruction, there was no sign of Kenshin, Yahiko, or Elsbeth. All three of them had vanished. They had obviously been buried somewhere deep beneath the tons of stone, mortar, wood, and steel that filled the devastated area. They were gone.   
  
Hiko laid a comforting arm around the smaller man, whose face was dirty from muddy tears. Both of their faces were masks of loss and sadness. This was not meant to happen.  
  
"Why?" Soujirou whispered. "Why?"  
  
"I do not know, Seta... Soujirou. I do not know." Hiko patted his shoulder. "Just try and remember everything he taught you while he was with you."  
  
"But, it was not long enough, Hiko-san. There was not enough time to say everything that needed to be said." Soujirou looked up at Hiko's stern face. "I was not finished yet. There was so much more I wanted to tell him, so much more I wanted to say. This is not right." His head dropped as more tears slid from his eyes and dripped off his chin and nose. "I did not have enough time with either one of them. That is the trouble with this world." Wiping muddy tears off his face with the sleeve of his blue gi, Soujirou stared hard at the mound of dirt that had become the grave of his father and brother. "There is never enough time for the important things that need to be done like being with the people you love and telling them the things they need to hear you say. Somehow you always believe they will just be there, but then one day something happens and they are gone. Someone you love is gone forever, and there were so many things you did not get the chance to share or say. Why  
  
did I not say those things to him before? Why did I not take the opportunity to tell him when I had the chance?" He sniffled  
  
and wiped his face on the sleeve of his gi again. "I never told him I loved him. I never told either one of them that. Why? Why did I waste the time?"  
  
"Because we never know when the person or people we love are going to be taken away from us, so we never think about the multitude of opportunities that life gives us to tell him what should have been said long ago... until it is too late."  
  
"I think Himura knew how you felt, Seta-san." Aoshi stood next to Soujirou. His face was also covered in pain. "I am glad I had the chance to call him my shin-yuu and my brother."  
  
"I would have enjoyed one more battle with him." Saitoh was brushing the dust off the sleeves of his uniform, and although the comment was completely inappropriate to the moment, the tone of his voice belied its true meaning. "We did our best, My Friends. That is all we could do. I am sorry for this tragedy." He sighed heavily and straightened his narrow muscular shoulders. "Who will tell Kamiya-dono?"  
  
Silence fell heavy and thick around the four men as they all hung their heads in sorrow. Who indeed? Who would be the one to carry the news to Kaoru that not only had she lost the youngling, Yahiko, but, in trying to save him at the last moment, Kenshin had given up his life as  
  
well. Who would tell her that her whole family except Soujirou was gone?  
  
"I will tell her." Hiko stood tall and squared his broad shoulders. "I suppose I am the closest thing to the next of kin Kenshin has. It is my place to carry the news." 'And my broken heart. I must always carry this broken heart now. Kenshin... My son. My beautiful, shining son.  
  
I never told you I loved you, not once. Kamiya-dono was right. I do regret it. With all my heart and soul I regret it. You will never know how much I loved you. I am sorry, My son. My beautiful son. I should have told you long ago. I should have told you. Kami-sama, forgive me,  
  
and take care of my shining boy.'  
  
Hiko took one last look at the pile of devastation that was now Kenshin and Yahiko's grave, and closed his eyes against the terrible pain that threatened to crush the breath from his lungs. Never did he believe this could or would happen. Never in his life had he ever considered the idea that he would stand over the grave of his son trying to find a way to say Good-bye. Kaoru had told him on the Ship that this was a possibility, and he had brushed the thought away scornfully, but here he was doing exactly what she had said he would. Grief and regret battled for supremacy within his tortured soul and ended up sharing the ravaged space equally. Hiko's life would never be the same. The peace he had found in his pottery would be forever shattered now. He would never know peace again.  
  
"Good-bye... Kenshin." He whispered in a small broken voice. "I should have told you." A tear slid down his stern profile as he was consumed by his grief. "I should have told you long ago." He dropped to one knee and lowered his head in sorrow. "I should have told you I loved you, My son, my beautiful shining son. I should have told you." More tears fell as his iron control was lost. "Forgive me... Kenshin. Forgive me... my Aisoku." And he grieved for all the things that should have been but never could be.  
  
********************  
  
Five men had entered the suffocating darkness of the Shinsengumi prison labyrinth, but only four returned, and only those four returned to the Aoiya each burdened with the weight of his grief laden soul and broken heart. They were covered with a layer of heavy dust, and their extreme physical and emotional fatigue was profoundly evident.  
  
Misao rushed to Aoshi wrapping her arm around his waist offering him what support she could, and in his state of shock, grief, and fatigue he put his arms around her shoulders and buried his face in her neck without even thinking about it. She could feel his terrible need for comfort and  
  
security, and it brought tears to her eyes that he would seek it from her. Her strong young arms wound themselves around his tall slim body, and she held him tightly to her.  
  
"Aoshi? What has happened?" He trembled against her and her concern mounted. "Aoshi?" Neither of them noticed she forgot all about the honorifics.  
  
Tokio ran to Saitoh finding him in much the same shape as Aoshi. His eyes were wide and filled with astonishing sadness and guilt, and when she pulled him into her arms, he did not reisit. "Saitoh?" Her voice was filled with anxiety. She had never seen him like this. Her eyes met Hiko's over Saitoh's head. "What has happened, Seijurou-san?"   
  
Before Hiko could speak Kaoru came running towards the group from somewhere near the dojo. She was wearing a gi and hakama and it was evident she had been training. She was slightly out of breath when she reached them, and her eyes were wide with apprehension and fear as she  
  
looked at Misao and Aoshi and then to Tokio and Saitoh. When her gaze came to rest on Hiko, he knew the moment of truth had come, and the taste of bitter gall rose in the back of his throat. 'Kami-sama, help me do this.' He spoke to himself under his breath, and then he slowly and  
  
carefully approached the young raven haired woman he had learned to respect so much in recent weeks.   
  
"Kamiya-dono..." He began gently as he laid a tender hand on her thin fragile shoulder. "I have to something to tell you."  
  
Kaoru stared into his eyes and saw the sadness and the grief. She saw the regret and the turmoil, and then a movement off to her left caught her eye and she turned towards it. Soujirou was sitting down on the grass. His movements were slow and measured almost as if he were some sort of a machine, and the look on his pale face spoke volumes of grief and loss to her. Her heart began to beat at a thunderous pace inside her chest as huge round blue eyes frantically darted around the yard searching for the familiar red-haired figure, but it was not there. She broke away from Hiko and ran out of the Aoiya's front gate into the street where she continued her frantic search, but there was still no sign of the man she desperately looked for.  
  
"Kenshin?!" She called in a voice filled with anxiety and fear. The people milling about turned to stare at her in confusion, then moved on their way.  
  
"KENSHIN??" She cried louder as terror started to bloom inside her heart, and ran farther down the street. Tears were beginning to blur  
  
her vision, and she roughly wiped them away with the back of her hand so she could see.  
  
"KENSHIN??" Kaoru fell to her knees as the inevitable truth caught up to her, and the sobbing cries of her sorrow tore their way free from her delicate throat. "Nooooooo..... Kennsshhinnn...." She threw her head back and screamed her anguish to the empty skies above her. "GOD, DO NOT LET THIS BE!! PLEASE... KENSHIN... KENSHHIIINNN!" And then she was suddenly seized and enfolded inside the fiercely strong arms of Seijurou Hiko who cradled her weeping body against his chest as if she were a small child or a fragile doll. Gently he lifted her up in his arms and  
  
carried her back to the Aoiya where everyone was waiting anxiously for their return. Okina led him to the room she had shared with Kenshin, and Hiko carefully laid her down on the soft futon. Misao and Tokio were at her side instantly pulling a soft quilt over her whimpering and shuddering form.  
  
"This is the worst thing that could have happened." Okina spoke sadly. "Does she know the boy was lost as well?"  
  
"No." Hiko spoke sharply. "That can wait. The shock of losing them both might kill her." He gestured towards her quavering body. "I do not think she can take much more, and I will not be the one to bare that news to her. I have done enough to destroy her life." He lowered his eyes and left the room. "I will not be responsible for causing her any more pain."  
  
"I understand, but someone must stand up for her. Someone must be there for her to lean on during this time of tragedy. Whom does she have?" Okina stepped in front of Hiko and met his pain filled gaze. "Who will be responsible for her and take care of her after she does find out Yahiko is dead as well as Himura? Seta-san will be able to help her a bit, but he himself is torn by the grief of their double loss as well. They both need someone who has the strength to help them stand up and walk forward again." Okina looked deeply into the dark emerald eyes of the large man before him. This was a man who had lived his life alone by his own choice. Could he change his way of life and take care of Kenshin's family in his place?  
  
"I... I do not know if I am capable of doing what you are suggesting, Okina. I never was a very good Father or friend. I tend to be... rather abrasive to people." Hiko managed a ghost of a half smile.  
  
"You of all people should know that God helps us change when we are required to do so. You are not alone, Hiko. You have a multitude of friends here. Himura's friends... his family, and we all need you." Okina laid a firm hand on Hiko's heavily muscled shoulder. "Kaoru-dono needs you, Seta-san needs you, and all of Himura's friends here at the Aoiya will need you as well. But, most of all, I think you need us as well."  
  
Hiko stared in stunned silence at Okina. "Why do you say that?"  
  
"Because, My Friend. You have lost your son today, and the pain in your heart is greater than you can bare alone."  
  
"Does it truly show?" His voice was no more than a whisper.  
  
"Perhaps only to someone who understands what it means to lose someone you love before you ever took the chance to let them know that. I understand your guilt. I too let a loved one die believing he meant almost nothing to me when just the opposite was true. That is a guilt and a grief I will carry with me to my grave."  
  
"As will I." Hiko dropped his head in shame. "I never told him anything. He died believing he was nothing more than my baka-deshi. Forever my stupid apprentice. I never told him how it broke my heart when he went to Kyoto and joined the Bakumatsu and became the Battousai, but I never told him how proud I was of what he did with his life afterwards. How proud I was of all the things he did trying to make amends for all of his sins." He drew in a deep breath and let it out  
  
slowly. "I never told him how much I loved him. How much I still love him."  
  
"Himura was one of the finest men I ever knew, Hiko. I would have been proud to call him my son. I was proud to call him my friend, and even prouder to call him my ally. He was the most selfless man I have ever known in my life."  
  
"Thank-you, Okina."  
  
"You are welcome, Hiko." 


	16. Out of The Depths of Hell

Glossary: koishii=dear or darling, engowa=veranda, sho-ji=outside door, fusuma=inside door, otan=father, shin-yuu=friend, tadaima=I am home, Aisai=beloved wife, saiai=beloved, onegai=please, jikogu=deepest hell, zenrei=my whole soul, bakumatsu=revolution, aisoku=beloved son, ('')=thoughts  
  
  
  
Chapter 16  
  
  
  
Out of The Depths of Hell  
  
She coughed and coughed until it felt as if her chest were going to cave in upon itself. The dust was so thick and heavy it felt like a blanket laying over her. She could feel boards and small pieces of old mortar laying on and around her, and she experimentally began to move her extremities checking for broken bones. When all of them were found intact, she carefully moved her neck and head. Her neck moved all right, but there was a thundering pain trying to split her skull in half.  
  
"Oooooo..... Dear God, my head." She moaned as she struggled onto her knees. Amazingly, one torch was still burning after the massive explosion of energy that had destroyed the cell block. It was laying on the floor behind her. A trembling white hand reached out and grabbed it  
  
dragging it to her. As she lifted it up, she sucked in a great gasping of air in shock. The entire area had been completely demolished. There was hardly a piece of the corridor wall left intact, and all 10 cells were totally devastated.   
  
Elsbeth stood up on shaky legs with her mouth hanging open and her eyes blown open wide as silver moons. Staring in stunned disbelief, she started picking her way through the mountains of shattered mortar and twisted steel.   
  
"Look at the power." She was lost in awe looking at the destruction Yahiko's raging ki had wrought on the prison. "Incredible... Magnificent..." She could still fell the residual pulsing of the boy's energy, and it was intoxicating. Then, somewhere during her admiration of the pure malevolence of the boy's strength, it dawned on her that the boy was gone. She whirled around and frantically searched around the debris filled area. Tons of mortar and broken wooden support braces were piled and strewn erratically about the floor, but in the center where she had been standing with the boy was a mountain of shattered mortar, dirt, and all sorts of debris from the surrounding cells. It was impenetrable. "NOOOOOO!" She screamed and picked up a rock and threw it as hard as she could at the massive mound. "NOOOOO! NOOOO! You've ruined everything you fucking brat! How could you do this to me after I have worked for so long? How dare you do this to me? " She jerked around and half ran half stumbled to the corner of what was left of the walkway, but she then stopped and turned around.   
  
"I hope your soul rots in Hell you little maggot. I hope you burn and scream in pain for all Eternity for what you have done to me. May your body rot and decay in the ground, Himura, while your soul watches me slaughter these mewling lambs one by one until I find another child powerful enough to open the doorway." She walked back to the mound of dirt and debris and spit on it, and then her face turned dreamy, almost ethereal. "It would have been glorious too, precious Boy. We would have lit up the midnight sky, you and I, with all of this magnificent power you just pissed away for nothing." She raised her hands in the air and spoke in a commanding voice. "We would have made the Emperor's of the old Dynasties bow their heads in shame and grovel at our feet when the doorway opened and our glorious King walked though it. Oh, what a sight it would have been so see, Precious. The King of Darkness and Chaos sitting on the throne of the Emperor's." Her eyes were glowing a wild red as her passion mounted. "It would have been the beginning of a new age... The Age of Dominian."   
  
She danced away and ran through the prison corridors on small quick feet. "I will yet open that doorway, Himura. Can you hear me all the way from Hell? If I have to murder every child in Japan to do it. I WILL OPEN THAT DOORWAY UNDER THE AUTUMN MOON, AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME THIS TIME."  
  
*********************  
  
  
  
Beneath the heavy layers of dirt and mortar there was a small pocket of air and space that was protected from the horrible weight above by a geometrical anomaly built from a ravaged steel door, and several large support beams. Inside this small haven of protection, setting crunched over into a tight ball of flesh and bone was the body of a man covering the smaller body of a young boy. Inside of this man's mind the primaeval instinct of survival had taken over control, and the adrenaline levels rising in his blood were rushing through his body, and increasing the strength of his muscles and the speed of his thoughts as he searched for a way to freedom. If they were going to survive, they had to get out before their safe haven collapsed on top of them, or ran out of breathable air. It seemed Time would forever be this man's mortal enemy, and he cursed inside his mind as he struggled to formulate a solution to their dilemma.   
  
Slowly reaching out with his right hand, he began feeling for an opening in the prison of dirt and stone around him. His sensitive fingers felt along every edge, every dip, every crevice. Finding a way out that would not bring the tons of debris down on top of them was his greatest concern. He had to find a way out. He had to get Yahiko out of here because he knew the boy had been injured in some way during the massive explosion of ki energy, but he also had to get out and get back to Kaoru. They would have told her by now that both he and Yahiko had been killed by the cave in. In his souls-heart, he could feel the absolute pain of her anguish and it was killing him because he could  
  
not comfort her with the truth that he was alive.   
  
It felt as if her soul were dying and he was dying with her. 'Kaoru...' He whispered in his heart. 'I am coming, koishii. Wait for me... I am coming.' His hand continued to search in earnest as he looked for a way out of the tiny haven. If he could not find one, it would become their grave. Kenshin did not want to die inside the black darkness of the Shinsengumi prison, and he knew if he could just get them out of this hole and find something to burn, he could follow Soujirou's Geisha beads all the way out to the exit tunnels. "Hold on, Yahiko. Hold on, My son."  
  
**********************  
  
Saitoh had returned to the police station to make his own private report. He had left Tokio at the Aoiya with Misao. She had become quite attached to the young ninja girl as well as to Kaoru in the short time the three women had been together, and after the devastating news of the Battousai's death, she felt the need to stay to offer emotional support to the younger woman. Saitoh had agreed easily. The incident had effected him more than he wanted to admit, and going back to the police station was an easy way to divorce himself from the situation. At least for a little while.  
  
Once they had gotten back to the Aoiya, Aoshi had taken Soujirou under his wing, so to speak, and was keeping him close to his side. The younger man appeared to be wandering lost and confused without any form of direction. Everyone at the Aoiya was very worried about his continuing state of sanity. They were afraid that after bonding so close to Kenshin and then losing him so soon and so tragically, might push Soujirou over the edge into madness or inconsolable despair. To find a place of love and security, a place that he alone could call his, and a man who loved and accepted him enough to become his 'Father', and then to have it torn from him so savagely would be nothing less than devistating to the young man's fragile psyche. Could it withstand such a tremendous and tragic loss? No one could be sure.  
  
After his talk with Okina, Hiko had positioned himself outside of Kaoru's room. He sat cross-legged on the engowa staring blankly into space as memory after memory sifted through his mind. Memories of Kenshin.  
  
Kenshin when he was eight and afraid of fishing because he did not know how to swim. Hiko had picked him up and thrown him into the stream. "That will teach you how to swim." He had called after the sputtering and chocking child. Of course he would never have let the boy drown.  
  
He had watched him very closely until he made his way back out onto the bank. That was the first time he had felt a true Fatherly emotion for the young Kenshin, but he had not known how to show it so he just handed him the fishing pole and told him he did not have an excuse any more.   
  
Then an image of Kenshin at about ten or eleven trying to move through the Mitsurugi kata by himself. Hiko had been surprised by the fluid and graceful motions the boy was capable of, but he had nearly fainted when Kenshin almost achieved God-like speed that day. Hiko had never said a word to him about seeing him practice, but during their training that afternoon, he added a new technique that required God-like speed to perform well. Kenshin had learned it swiftly and perfectly. It later become his favorite move the Ryu Tsui San, and he would become the best at performing it.  
  
Image after image passed before his minds eye as he relived a lifetime lived over 20 years ago. There would be no more memories to be made now. Kenshin was gone. Kenshin was... dead.   
  
Hiko discovered himself wondering what it would have been like to hold Kenshin and Kaoru's child in his arms, and found a lump of emotion forming in his throat. 'What is happening to me?' He asked himself.   
  
'I have never cared about such things before. I have never even thought about them before so why do I think about them now, and why does the knowledge that they will never happen cause me so much pain?' He looked at his hands and examined the hard formed callouses made from years of  
  
swinging his sword, and wondered if he would even know how to hold a baby. Then another more disturbing thought came to him. 'Would they have even wanted me to be a part of their child's' life? Would I have ever held their child?' Hiko swallowed hard against the lump and rested his head against the wall of Kaoru's room. The expression on his face was unreadable.  
  
"Kenshin...." The ache in her heart and soul was a pain she knew she would never be able to bare. There would be no recovery from this loss. This terrible cavernous grief would live with her as her life's companion in Kenshins place. It would sleep by her side at night, and walk beside her in the daytime. The huge emptiness where Kenshin used to live was growing with each passing moment, and soon it would consume her entirely. Kaoru wanted to die.  
  
"What can we do, Tokio-san?" Misao's face was reddened and stained with tears. She had broken down as well when she learned of Himura's death, but her concern for Kaoru's grief had over shadowed her own, and she knelt loyally at her friends side. She wrung her hands with nervous  
  
anxiety not knowing what else to do. "I do not know what to do. She looks so sad, so broken. How can we help her?"  
  
"We can be here for her, Misao. That is all." Tokio laid a cool cloth over Kaoru's brow, and gently stroked her pale cheek. "The pain she feels at this moment cannot be described. It has no name or context. It simply is, and it is either endured and beaten, or it is not."  
  
"What do you mean, 'or not'?" Misao's puffy eyes searched the older woman's face. "Are telling me Kaoru could be like this forever or something? How can she suffer like this for the rest of her life? She cannot. She would waste and whither away, and eventually it would kill her. I know it would." Tears slid from Misao's eyes and fell into her lap. "She cannot live like this."  
  
"Misao, sometimes people love each other so much that one cannot bare to live without the other. I can see how much Kaoru loved Himura, and I can feel the depth of her pain and loss. I do not know if she can ever recover from losing him." She wiped tears off Misao's face. "It is rare to see a love bond so strong and so deep that it reaches all the way into the soul. If we pity her, we diminish something glorious and beautiful, but neither can we rejoice in this." Misao buried her face against Tokio's neck and softly cried. "This is the worst kind of tragedy."  
  
"Kenshin...."  
  
The sun had slipped below the horizon and the moon had risen to cast its pure white light across the courtyard of the Aoiya as well as the rest of Kyoto. It would be completely full in its glorious presence the following night, and the grand Autumn Festival would be celebrated just as it was every year. Nothing would change, nothing ever did. Life moved forward at its usual steady pace letting events happen as they should, just as they were planed.  
  
A shrill high -pitched scream stabbed though the night shattering the serenity of the Moon's beauty, and then was suddenly silenced as if it had never been.   
  
Life kept moving forward. Nothing ever changed. Everything happened just as it was planned.  
  
  
  
Hiko looked up at the Moon and decided it must be close to midnight. He heaved himself to his feet and stretched his tall broad frame which had become stiff from setting for so many hours. There was no one else stirring about so he decided it would be all right if he left his post for just a moment. He needed to stretch his legs, and a short walk was just the thing. As he stealthfully moved along the creaky veranda, another sound caught his sensitive ears freezing him where he stood. His left thumb eased his sword out of its sheath with a soft 'click' as his right hand closed around the well- worn hilt.   
  
The gate was opening, albeit very slowly, but it was opening.  
  
Aoshi and Soujirou suddenly appeared at his side hands at the ready to draw their blades as well.  
  
"Someone is trying to open the gate." Hiko said very quietly as he gestured in the direction of the sho-ji.  
  
"I heard." Aoshi replied just as quietly. "Let's wait until he is inside. We will have a better chance of over powering him within the courtyard."  
  
"Agreed." Hiko nodded and looked at Soujirou. The young mans' face was no longer frozen in its usual smile, instead it now wore a deeply serious straight lipped expression. "Soujirou?"  
  
"I am ready." He replied flatly. Hiko nodded to him and then met Aoshi's worried eyes. Only time would tell about the young swordman. Their attention returned to the slowly moving gate.  
  
It was difficult to see clearly in the pale light of the Moon. The pure white light tended to play tricks with a man's vision as it cast odd shaped shadows and changed usually bright colors into drab shades of gray and black. So when the strangely shaped individual finally succeeded in opening the gate and gained access into the Aoiya, it was no wonder that the three confused men started to attack before they realized whom they were attacking.   
  
Because of his speed, Soujirou reached the stranger first and nearly knocked him to the ground before he recognized him and what he carried over his shoulder.   
  
"OTAN!!!" Soujirou's ecstatic joyful shout was heard all over the entire Aoiya. It was quickly followed by another. "LITTLE BROTHER!!!" And suddenly the courtyard was filled with light and people as everyone ran out of their rooms not believing what they had just heard.  
  
"Himura-san!" "Kenshin!" He could hear his name being cried and shouted all around him as he sank to his knees in exhaustion. He was covered with dirt and there was a cut over his right shoulder, but otherwise he seemed unharmed. Leaning over, he gently laid his precious burden on the cool grass.   
  
Yahiko was still unconscious, but he was alive and Kenshin could still feel the pulse of his spirit energy; although it was quite subdued. He was bleeding from several small cuts, and from the small slit in his throat made by Elsbeth's dagger, but he also seemed to be all right otherwise.   
  
"He is alive." Kenshin said with great effort. "But he is utterly spent. He used his entire ki and I think some of mine to do what he did." Exhausted violet eyes rose to look at each person kneeling around him and Yahiko. Then they stopped, and held the powerful blue-grey gaze of his other son. "I believe he is in a state of some sort of hibernation or something like it. His body and mind suffered such a tremendous shock when he released all that power, this seems to be their way of coping and healing."  
  
"Then you believe he will come back?" Soujirou's voice was low and filled with question and concern as he met and searched his adopted father's clear violet gaze.  
  
"Yes, I do, but I also believe he will be gone for some time as well. It will take time to replenish the enormous amount of energy he expended. He could sleep for days."  
  
"I understand." Soujirou nodded solemnly and bent down to gently lift Yahiko up in his arms. "I will take care of him, Otan." He said as he met Kenshin's eyes steadily. "He is my brother after all, and that is what brothers do for each other, isn't it? They take care of each other." Then he turned to walk away, but something made him stop. "Father..." His voice was trembling with great effort to speak.   
  
"Yes, Soujirou." Kenshin rose slowly to his feet and faced the young man as he turned back to face him. Kenshin felt a tremendous love and pride swell within his heart as he watched a tear slip down Soujirou's intensely emotion filled face.  
  
"I love you. I want you to know that."   
  
Kenshin was stunned by the simply spoken words and deeply moved by the enormous amount of feeling behind them. "I love you as well, Soujirou... Aisoku."   
  
Soujirou smiled brightly and walked away with Yahiko held gently in his strong arms. Kenshin watched him as he went until he disappeared into his room and slid the fusuma closed. Then he turned back to the others' still standing about him.  
  
Aoshi approached him and offered him a deep bow and then hugged him close for a short moment. " I am very pleased you are not dead... brother." And a hint of a smile washed across his bland face. "You were just starting to become interesting." Kenshin smiled back and inclined his head.   
  
Next came Saitoh, who had returned to the Aoiya to be with Tokio. Kenshin met the narrowed slits of the policeman's eyes, and bowed to him. "I owe you my gratitude, Saitoh. Without you I would never have been able to find Yahiko. I am now in debt to you for his life, and it is a debt I will gladly repay should the opportunity ever arise." He bowed again. "Thank-you,.... shi-yuu."  
  
Saitoh's eyebrows rose in total shock, and for once he was speechless. Kenshin simply smiled and turned away. Tokio smiled tenderly at her gapping husband and kissed his cheek.  
  
The only person left was Hiko, but as soon as it was certain that Kenshin was all right, Hiko had disappeared. Kenshin's violet eyes searched the yard earnestly, but Hiko was no where to be seen. His head dropped low in resignation.   
  
"Why do you never let me come close to you?" Kenshin whispered as the part of his heart that belonged to Hiko broke into pieces once more. "What is it about me you hate so much that you cannot even accept my thanks for your assistance?" His tired feet carried him out of the circle of his friends, and he looked up into the night sky. "Why can you not love me? Why?"  
  
Within the dojo walls Seijurou Hiko leaned into the wall weakly as heavy silent sobs shook his huge body, and tears of relief poured unchecked down the lean contours of his face. "Thank-you Kami-sama..." He breathed into the cool night air. "Thank-you for the life of my Aisoku." He gulped in large breaths of air trying to calm his emotions, but 20 years of loneliness and unspoken feelings of love and need would not be stopped now that the gates had been broken open. "Dear God..." He cried. "Give me the strength. Give me the strength to do what is right this time. Do not let me waste this precious second chance to love my son."  
  
Kenshin let the cool night breeze slide through his hair washing away the pain of his Master's continued rejection of him. Life would move onward. He would move onward and he would survive this pain because he had.... Oh God!!  
  
"Kaoru!!!" He whipped to his left and disappeared as his God-like speed carried him across the yard to the room he shared with her. In a split instant he was sliding the fusuma open and stepping inside. Tears flooded his eyes when he saw her laying on their futon curled into a ball of anguished pain and grief. Her face was pale with greyish circles beneath eyes that were reddened from hours and hours of crying. Kenshin was kneeling beside her in a moment tenderly touching her cool skin.  
  
"So cold..." He whispered in frightened concern. "Too cold." He knew he was covered with dirt and filth, but at the moment it did not matter as he slid his arms beneath her shoulders, and lifted her up to hold her against his heart. "Kaoru..." Dirty tears dripped off his nose and chin and fell into the ebony depths of her hair. "Koishii, tadaima Aisai..." He pressed kisses against her forehead and over her cold cheeks. "Open your eyes, koishii. Please open your eyes. Tadaima. I  
  
am home." A sob caught in his throat and he buried his face in her neck. "Onegai... onegai..." Please.   
  
It was dark where she was at, and she wanted to stay there. Inside the darkness there was no pain, there was no grief, there was nothing. Just the darkness. But something was pulling on her, tugging at her. Something was trying to coax her out. Kaoru resisted until the sound of the voice at last penetrated into the darkness and she heard....   
  
"Ken-shen....?" She stirred slightly against him, and he raised his dirty, tear stained face to look down into her deathly pale one. A trembling hand brushed away a few stray strands of black hair that were  
  
caught on her long lashes, and then cupped her cheek.  
  
"Kaoru," the voice was soft and filled with entreaty. "Come back, saiai. Please do not leave me here without you." Kenshin brushed soft kisses over her delicate eyelids, along her cheeks, on her nose, and then lightly across her cold lips. "Kaoru... Kaoru... tadaima, sweetheart. I am home. I am alive, Aisai... open your eyes and see me, Kaoru. I am alive." He pressed his lips against hers again. "I am home, and I am alive. Please come back to me."  
  
"Ken...." She stirred against him again, and her eyelids fluttered several times as they struggled to open. Kenshin continued dusting soft gentle kisses all over her face and whispering to her he was alive, and begging her to come back to him. And though his arms were tired and aching with fatigue caused from the hours it had taken him to dig his way out and pull himself and Yahiko to freedom, he refused to let go of her.  
  
"Kenshin..." The voice was hoarse but steady and firm. He pulled back from her and found himself looking into her beautiful dark blue eyes. They stared at him as if trying to decide if he were real or if he was a ghost. Her hand rose to his face and she traced the dirty pathway of his tears down his cheek. Then the same hand lifted up farther to touch his hair, which had lost its' glorious red shine to the large amount of dirt that covered it. "You are filthy, koishii." She said at last. "I do not remember ever seeing you look like this before."  
  
Kenshin shook his head and laughed softly as he caught her hand and brought it to his lips. He pressed gentle loving kisses against her fingers and then laid her palm against his cheek. "I am sorry, Aisai." Tear filled violet eyes danced with love and a soft smile crossed his lips. "It never crossed my mind to stop and take a bath before I came in."  
  
Then the most beautiful smile he had ever seen curved her mouth and lit up her eyes. "I think I can forgive you this time, My Anata. Truly I can." Kenshin chocked back a sob and crushed her against him while he lost himself in the curve of her shoulder. Kaoru wrapped her arms around   
  
his neck and shoulders and pulled him into her embrace and her soft mouth began to shower soft kisses wherever she could reach.  
  
He pulled back and cupped her face in his hands. "I am too dirty for your lips to touch, koishii. Wait for me to clean all of this dirt off, and then you can kiss what and wherever you like." Kaoru gazed at him with clear blue eyes filled with innocence and wonder, and then she leaned into him and captured his mouth with hers. It was the first time she had ever initiated a passionate kiss between them, and Kenshin was to stunned to stop her. His mouth opened wider which parted her lips and  
  
deepened the kiss. "Kaoru.... Let me go wash and then I will come back." He stood up and walked to the door and slid it open. He stopped and turned back to look at her. Huge blue eyes filled with anxiety were watching him with an unspoken question burning in their depths.  
  
"I brought him home with me, koishii." The words were gently spoken and meant to soothe her. "I am certain he will be all right so do not lose heart." Kenshin smiled into Kaoru's relieved face. "Wait for me." A wicked smile crossed his handsome, if not dirty face, and then he was gone.  
  
"He is back...." She spoke to herself almost as if she spoke to someone else. "He is alive..." She touched a hand to her heart and felt it beating with her own life. "He did not die in the cave in..." The same hand touched her lips. "He survived, Yahiko survived, and he brought him home..." Blue eyes blinked once then once more as she tried to make sense of what had just happened. "It was real... Kenshin is alive... I am not alone... He is still with me... Still with me...  
  
still with me... still... still... still.. Kenshin." Her hands covered her face as the shock of seeing him wore off and relief descended to take its' place. Harsh but quiet sobs shook Kaoru's slender frame as she allowed the reality that Kenshin and Yahiko were both still alive to sink into her heart and soul. Kenshin was alive. Her one beloved had somehow cheated a certain death, and then come home to her just as he had promised he would.   
  
"Thank-you Kami-sama. Thank-you." The words of her heart soared towards the heavens as she rejoiced in the knowledge that grief had not yet replaced Kenshin as her life companion.   
  
Suddenly Kaoru was seized from behind. A large hand closed over her mouth cutting off any scream she might have made while the monstrous rope of another arm wrapped around her middle effectively pinning her arms to her sides. Quiet as a shadow the intruder pulled her out through the  
  
hole he had made in the rice paper wall of the room.   
  
"Lovely, lovely girl." Kaoru felt the sheen of cold sweat break out on her forehead and trickle down between her breasts. The moment she heard the cultured accented voice she knew who it was, and when the beautiful evil face came close to hers, she finally understood why Miko Ishida had called this woman The Devil's Whore.  
  
"What is the matter, koishii?" She sneered in Kaoru's face. "Has some nasty cat got your tongue?" Low evil laughter filled the air surrounding Kaoru and her unwanted companions. "If you make so much as a squeak, I will slit your throat." A long shining blade was place closely against the frantically beating pulse in her neck. "Take your hand off her face. I would see this 'Kaoru' that Himura 'loves' enough to want to live for."   
  
Kaoru watched in apprehension as a tiny delicate boned hand reached out and tilted her chin upward and then side to side. "He thinks you are beautiful." The smooth voice was scornful and rude. "I think you look like a little crow with your white washed skin and tar black hair." Kaoru's head was thrown out of the woman's grasp with an amazing amount of force. "Gag her and follow." She hissed to the man who held Kaoru captive. "We waste time that is ill afforded. I cannot be caught again." The odd trio disappeared into the shifting shadows of the night, but not before Elsbeth left Kenshin a message. A very clear message.  
  
He rubbed hard at his wet hair trying to get most of the water out of it before he left the bath house. It had been many years since he had felt so glad to be clean again. Of course, it had been many years since he had been that filthy. He had also felt as if he were washing the residue of Elsbeth off of him as well. Violet eyes narrowed as he recalled the tip of the dagger pressed into Yahiko's throat. She would pay for that, that she would. Shaking his head bruskly, Kenshin pushed  
  
all negative thoughts from his mind. All he wanted to do right now was curl up with Kaoru wrapped snugly in his arms and sleep. Kaoru... A sigh of relief escaped him as he thought of the deep state of grief he had found her in. If that had proved nothing else to him, it had proved once and for all the true depth of her love for him. He would never doubt her again. Carefully he slid the door open and stepped inside the candle lit room he shared with her. He draped his dirty clothes over a stool and turned to approach his beloved, but she was not where he had left her. Instead all he found was a single lock of her raven hair that had been intentionally placed across the center of the futon. Very  
  
carefully and intentionally placed.  
  
Kenshin's eyes darted around the room surveying it for intruders or any other changes, and he quickly found the large slit in the paper wall. Rushing to it, he stepped out into the night and immediately felt the unmistakable negative power shift that was Elsbeth's alone.  
  
"Nooooooo....." He dropped to his knees with fists clenched and head bowed. "Please do not let this happen. Please, God. Please. Noooooo..." His voice broke on a sob, and then he fell into a deep silence for a long moment. When, at long last, he looked up, Kenshin let the changing amber orbs of his eyes stare intently at the rounding sphere of the nearly full Moon as if he were trying to absorb the purity of it into his soul.   
  
"I know where you are going, kirei." It was spoken barely above a whisper. "Now we shall see who is the strongest, Heaven and Earth or Hell and Damnation." He rose to his feet in one fluid motion and continued to face the Moon. "Run and hide, kirei." He let his voice ring clear and true as he spoke. "Run and hide kirei. That is the only way you will avoid my sword because this time I do know everything." As his eyes began glowing a deep golden-yellow that cast a gleaming circle of light all around him, Kenshin sensed a strangeness gathering in the air around him. A feeling of power began to dance and tingle along his skin, and strands of his flaming red hair were floating about his head in an unseen slow breeze that was seperate from the natural wind that whispered through the nearby trees. His well shaped lips pulled back into a wolfish snarl, and when he spoke, his voice was the rumbling of a deep growl within his chest.   
  
"Hear me now, Elsbeth de Angeles, O Thou Witch of the Dark World.  
  
Thine head is mine, and I will bath the Alter of Thine wicked blasphemies with the blood of Thine own body. Thou shalt taste the bitter gall that is the long death of Eternal Damnation. When I cast Thy flaming soul screaming into the deepest depths of Jikogu, Thou shalt burn in the worst agonies of pain forever." He raised his face and his right fist to the sky and continued speaking in the same terrible voice. "Thy fate is sealed by Thine own bitter hatreds and jealousies, and Thy black heart with perish upon the tip of my blade. I claim Thy life as retribution for all of the innocents Thee hath sacrificed in the name of the King of Hell. THEE. ARE. MINE." A great pulse of Kenshin's spirit-ki exploded from his body and surged outward from him shaking the trees and rattling the windows of near by buildings. "The time is upon you, Witch. The Flaming Sword of The Mother is coming for you." Slowly he dropped his fist and turned to slide back into his room through the slit in the wall.  
  
"Aaaiiieeeee!!!" Elsbeth grabbed her throat and her chest as she was gripped by a terrible pain. Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground scraping her hands. It was several moments before she was able to stand. Shock and fear registered on her fine featured face as her eyes wildly looked around as if she actually thought she might see some kind of an attacker, but there was no one. Kaoru smiled behind the hand that covered most of her face. She knew what had caused the woman so much pain. Kenshin's ki was dancing angrily in the air surrounding them like a thousand tiny Samurai warriors with flaming swords. "He knows." She thought. "And she knows he knows.... and she is afraid." Excellent.  
  
********************  
  
Hiko tentatively knocked on Kenshin and Kaoru's door the next morning. He had spent the rest of the night in the dojo trying to come to terms with his feelings towards Kenshin, and it had been a very long night. When the Sun had risen, he was forced to face the realization that he was no closer to an answer than he had been when he started. So, he had come to the decision that the best way to meet the problem was face to face.  
  
"Who is out there?" Kenshin's voice was uncostomarily sharp and abrupt.  
  
"It is me, Kenshin. May I come in?" Hiko felt strange asking that question. He was also feeling a tremendous amount of hostility and rage coming from the other side of the fusuma. Fury. Rage. Pain? Fear? 'Something is wrong. What is wrong Kenshin? This is not like you.'  
  
"Sure. Why not. Come on in, Master. Come in and make yourself at home." 'What does it matter, what I want? You are going to come in anyway, so come in and get it over with.'   
  
"Thank-you." Now Hiko knew for certain something was dreadfully wrong. This was not Kenshin at all. He should not be in this kind of a mood after being able to reacquire the boy as well as return to the girl. Hiko opened the door, and stepped inside cautiously not wanting to disturb the girl if she was still asleep, but what he saw in the room made him stop and stare. Kenshin was alone.  
  
"Where is Kamiya-dono?" He looked around the room becoming more concerned when he noticed her clothing still hanging in the cabinet. "Kenshin, what is going on? Where is she?" Worry. Anxiety.   
  
"She is not here, Master. I am sure you can see that. It is quite obvious." Sharp, angry, cold. Disrespectful. Not Kenshin.  
  
Hiko walked farther into the room watching Kenshin carefully. He was sitting on the floor, red head bent over as he intently polished his sakobatou. At least that was what Hiko thought it was until he got closer. "That is not your sakobatou, is it?" Alarm. 'It is a long sword. A katana.'  
  
"No, it is not." 'Do not ask me any more questions.'  
  
"Whose sword is it, Kenshin?" 'What are you doing with a long sword?'  
  
"At the moment, it seems to be mine." 'Back off. This does not concern you.'  
  
"I see." Hiko walked close enough to Kenshin to set down but still be a safe distance away from him. He carefully lowered his tall frame to the floor. 'What are you going to do with it? Please do not do anything rash. We can talk about whatever it is first. Talk to me.'  
  
"I do not see where that is any of your concern, Master. My life stopped being your responsibility a very long time ago.... As if it ever was." 'I am in pain. Leave me alone. You do not care anyway. Go away.'  
  
"Kenshin, where is Kami... Where is Kaoru?" 'Stop playing games with me, and tell me what is going on. What has happened to the girl? Why are you acting this way? Why do you have a katana? What are you going to do with it? Why are you so angry at me?'  
  
"Elsbeth has her." 'There, are you happy? I told you. Now, get out. I do not want to talk to you.'  
  
"What in the hell are you talking about? That bitch is dead. She has to be. She was caught in the cave-in. She is dead!" 'Oh Dear God. That witch has the girl? She has Kaoru? Oh NO!'  
  
"I am not dead. Why should she be? I crawled out of that godforsaken black hole. What makes you think she could not have?" 'Stupid. Idiot. Now whose the Baka?'  
  
"All right. All right. She has Kaoru. How did she get her hands on her and what does she want her for?" 'This cannot keep going on or he is going to snap. Maybe he already has. Kami....'  
  
"She came through the wall last night while I was gone to the bath house." He gestured towards the large slit in the paper wall. "And I would imagine, considering our past and recent affiliations, that she intends to kill Kaoru. Any more questions?" Kenshin turned a furious  
  
burning amber gaze on Hiko. "I have things to do." 'Are you blind or just stupid? Get out!'  
  
"I can see that." 'You are going to go after her.' "Do you know where you are going?" 'Of course he does.'  
  
"Yes." 'Stay away. I do not need or want your help. I do not need YOU!'  
  
"Care to tell me where you are off to." 'Please tell me. I know you do not want to, but do it anyway.'  
  
"No. Not really, but since you are just the sneaky kind of asshole that would follow me regardless of my wishes, I may as well tell you." Inside himself Hiko flinched at the viciousness in Kenshin's voice as he spoke to him. All attempts at respectful communication had vanished, and it appeared that all of Kenshin's pent up anger and frustration had finally raised it's ugly head. "You see, Dear Elsbeth inadvertently offered me some very colorful information before she departed the prison. Of course, she thought Yahiko and I were buried underneath a ton of dirt and stone when she did it." An ugly chuckle rumbled out of his chest, as he ran his thumb along the edge of the swords blade testing its sharpness. "So I suppose she did not see the danger in letting us in on her old plans. She kept talking about the grandness of having the King of Hell walk through the doorway and set on the throne of the Emperor's of Old." 'Figure it out youself, oh intelligent One.'  
  
"The Imperial Palace?" Hiko's brow furrowed. "But it's been closed to the public for years, and there are guards placed around at all times. How would she get in there without being seen?" 'Look at him. I am talking to the Battousai, not Kenshin. Has he gone off the edge?'  
  
"She is not trying to get in without being seen. Remember Gonzai? Every member of the village was murdered. She has the resources for everything she needs. Ever detail has been taken care of. The guards are already dead." 'Not so fast any more are you, Old Man. How does it feel to play catch-up?'  
  
"I see, and you intend to go in there after her by yourself? Is that it? Kenshin the mighty Battousai goes off on another valiant crusade to save Japan." Hiko was not prepared for what happened next and so he was caught completely off guard.  
  
In the space of less than a heart-beat, Kenshin was off the floor and standing over his old Master with the edge a very sharp katana pressed at a deadly angle beneath his chin. Hiko could not help but admit he was shocked by the speed at which Kenshin had moved, but he was more stunned by the fact that he had turned on him in anger at all.  
  
"I am not on any fucking crusade, Master." The voice Hiko heard coming from Kenshin was strange. It was neither angry nor threatening. He could not place the tone. "I am on a journey that only I can take because only I am involved. True it does involve the future of Japan, but at this moment I do not give a damn about Japan." He drew a ragged breath. "This spiteful bitch has taken that which is closest to my heart, and she has taken it for one reason and one reason only."   
  
The blade pressed a fraction closer and Hiko could feel the razor edge against his skin. "She took it because she knows I will come for it. She knows I will find a way to come, and she is using my Beloved as bait to draw me out."  
  
"Bait?" The word was chocked out around the lump in Hiko's throat.  
  
"Yes, bait. She does not really want Kaoru at all; although she will undoubtedly kill her anyway." The blade dropped from Hiko's throat, and Kenshin walked away. "She wants me." 'Damn her to everlasting Hell.'  
  
"Why does she want you? I don't understand."   
  
"To replace Yahiko in the ritual. She needs my ki to open the doorway, and taking Kaoru was the one way she knew she could draw me out. You see," The sword flashed through the air like liquid lightning and then was easily sheathed with an audible 'click'. "She knows I know about the Imperial Palace."  
  
"How can she know that?"  
  
"Because she knows Yahiko is alive, and that I was the one who saved him from the cave-in."  
  
"She cannot know that. She would have had to either go back and see that you had escaped, or else someone saw you come back to the Aoiya."   
  
"It could be either one, but it is most likely the later. Elsbeth is vindictive to a fault. She probably had someone watching the Aoiya with the intentions of murdering everyone here simply because they were associated with me." Kenshin moved to the slit in the paper wall and began to finger it absently. "Once word reached her that Yahiko and I were still alive, she would have realized that I heard every word she said, and I knew every detail of her plan. She is waiting for me and I have to go. I have to try." Kenshin drew a ragged breath and gripped the hilt of the katana hanging on his belt. "I have the gift and strength of four different ki's within me now. Four different elements that are each specifically connected to the Earth, and I believe I know how to use them to my advantage just like I used my Fire-ki to beat the Horde."   
  
"I am inclined to believe you on that subject, but I do not see where this is only your concern and does not involve any of us." 'Why must you do everything alone? Why can you not ask for help? Not even from your closest friends?'  
  
"Kaoru is my Aisai. She is my responsibility, mine to protect, mine to save. She is my... Zenrei and the reason I want to live." Kenshins voice fell to a thin whisper. "Without her, I have  
  
no life. I have no choice. I must go." 'Kaoru. My Aisai. I am coming.'  
  
Hiko stood up and cautiously approached Kenshin. "There are always choices, my son. Every day we are faced with a thousand-thousand choices and it is up to each of us which ones we choose to make." He slowly reached out from behind and softy laid his hand on Kenshin's shoulder.   
  
"You believe you are alone, Kenshin, because you have always felt alone, and that..." There was a long hollow pause. "That is my fault."  
  
Kenshin stiffened beneath Hiko's hand, but said nothing. "All your life, I have watched you grow and evolve into one of the finest swordsmen I have ever seen. Even when you were an angry 14 year-old brat spouting Revolutionary drivel in my face, you were extraordinary. I always believed you were meant for great things, but I never dreamed the things you would do." He removed his hand and walked away from Kenshin.   
  
"When you left for the Bakumatsu, I thought the pain of your betrayal of everything I had taught you would kill me, but when you became Hitokiri Battousai, I knew I would never again know such pain as that." Hiko's voice broke, and Kenshin spun around in shock and stared at the large man's back. "With every life you took, you broke my heart a little bit more, and when the day came that I could not bare it anymore, I started trying to drown my pain inside a jug of sake, and I began drinking more and more and more. It seemed life was easier to look at from the wrong side of a sake' jug." A huge sigh lifted his broad  
  
shoulders and his hand reached out to grip one of the support beams. "I hated you. I cursed you. I begged God to strike you dead. I begged for anything as long as I never had to look into your face again."   
  
The great broad shoulders that had always looked so insurmountable to Kenshin began to shake, and he heard Hiko draw in a ragged breath. "How could I face my life when I knew that my beautiful shining boy had become something that was almost worse than the Devil himself? How could I bare to walk through the streets of Kyoto or any village and listen to people curse the name of the Battousai as a shadow demon that sucked the blood of the living, and realize they spoke about my beautiful boy? How could I endure the pain of knowing that my boy was the most feared man in the whole of Japan? My beautiful boy caused more fear with the mere mention of his name than any man could by even drawing his sword. It was a nightmare I could not escape, so I buried every emotion and feeling I had ever felt for you deep inside of myself in a place where they would never again see the light of day."   
  
Hiko's long black hair nearly brushed the floor as he dropped his head in despair. "I never thought I would see you again either. I prayed I never would, but suddenly one day there you were looking lost and broken with your beautiful face scarred and haunted by the past. But your eyes... those amazing extraordinary eyes were still full of the same piercing determination they had always been from the first moment I had ever seen you." Slowly Hiko turned to face a shocked and trembling Kenshin, who could do nothing but watch a face that had never been anything more than stern or mocking to him, melt into one of profound sadness and sorrow. "What could I do except help you? Despite my righteous anger towards you, in the end, I could refuse you nothing." Utterly unable to believe what he was hearing or seeing, Kenshin felt as if his feet were frozen to the floor. He watched as the tears fell unchecked down his Master's lean face and dropped to the floor in tiny puddles. This was not supposed to happen. This was never supposed to happen. What was happening? Kenshin's mind was whirling in confusion as a miriad of emotions and questions collided recklessly within his skull. The large emotionally distraught man standing in front of him was a stranger he did not know, and he could find no hand-hold of stability within his turbulent psyche.  
  
"Even when this whole nightmare started...." Hiko paused and shook his head looking at the ceiling while he tried to gain some control over himself. "Do you know how I knew you were in trouble, Kenshin? Do you know how I knew you needed me?" He paused and drew a deep breath before continueing. "Your ki came screaming to me like a panicked child one night because it had been driven out of a terrifying nightmare by a kind of fear it felt it could not escape alone. So frantic was it's need to be comforted and protected that the physical pain it caused nearly knocked me unconscious. Imagine my total astonishment and confusion when I realized what had happened? I was shock beyond my own rational belief when I realized it was you clinging to me in fear, and that is was you who had come to me searching for protection. You came squalling out of the bitter night looking for a Father to comfort and protect you from something so terrible you could not bare to face it on your own, and you came looking for ME, Kenshin. It was at that moment I knew I had to find you, and that is how Kaoru, Muojin-san, and myself ended up here in Kyoto looking for you."   
  
Hiko closed his eyes and tried to wipe the wetness on his face away with the heels of his palms. "Kaoru asked me several questions on the Ship that I refused to answer at the time because I felt they were useless and foolish, but I think she knew me better than I knew myself." He let his emerald eyes meet and lock with Kenshin's frantic and confused violet gaze. "She asked me if I was ashamed of you, or if I was ashamed to admit I loved you, or if it were both. And then she asked me if I thought loving you would make me look weak in the eyes of other people, or in my own." An unsteady ironic laugh fell from his lips. "She was quite a bit more insightful that I cared for her to be, but she was right. She was right about all of it, and deep in my heart I knew it but I refused to admit it. Not to her, and certainly not to myself. Then she said something to me that finally rang painfully true to me yesterday." As he locked eyes with Kenshin, Hiko took a very slow and measured step towards him.  
  
"She told me that one day I would no longer be able to deny my feelings for you, and I would regret never having told you how I felt. She asked me if I was going to be one of those pitiful souls who knelt in grief over my loved one's grave wishing I had said all of the things that should have been said when I had the chance, only I had squandered the opportunities given me because of my stubborn pride and anger?" He took one more tentative step closer to the trembling red-haired Samurai that he had raised and mentored from a child of seven.   
  
"Yesterday inside the prison, as I stood beside that huge pile of dirt and mortar, THAT was the only thing I could think of. You were beneath that mountain of debris, and no matter what I did, no matter how hard I denied the truth, I would never be able to reach you, and I could not save you. Your body was crushed and broken underneath the all those tons of dirt and debris, and you were never going to come out. There was never going to be another chance in my life to see your face, look into your eyes, or hear your voice because you were gone. I had finally lost you for good, just like she warned me I might. My beautiful shining boy, my Aisoku, was gone and he would never be coming home again, and there was not one damned thing I could do about it. He was was gone from me forever... he was truly dead." The strong stern voice cracked and broke on a suppressed surged of emotional pain, and Kenshin was beginning to feel as if all the oxygen were being sucked out of the room. He could not breath, and his vison was swimming with unshed tears of disbelief, anger, pain, and hope.  
  
"I had missed every opportunity God have ever given me to reach my hand out to you and tell you everything I should have told you when you were eight, when you were ten, when you were 14, but I never did it because I did not know how, and I finally understood one single horrible truth." The magnificent Samurai, who had once been Seijorou Hiko, 13th Master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, bowed his head in humble shame before the trembling red-haired Warrior, whom he had given his own name to when he adopted him as his son, and spoke in a voice that was both reverent and contrite. "Be careful what you ask for, because it may be given to you. I had wished and prayed for you to be dead so many times over the years that I could not remember them all, and suddenly it was true. You were dead. I do not ever want to know the pain of that grief within my heart again." Then he slowly and carefully stretched his hand out to Kenshin in humble entreaty. "I do not want to waste another chance... My son." His voice dropped to a mere whisper within the otherwise silent room. "Who knows how much time we have left? I guess only God knows, but I do not want to lose or waste any more of it. I have learned a painful lesson in these few short days that time is one of the most precious gifts we are given in this life, and it should not be used foolishly." As he raised his head and once more captured the tortured amber gaze, Hiko slowly raised his other hand and opened his arms wide to the violently trembling red-haired man before him. "Come home to me, Kenshin. I have missed you, My beautiful boy. I have missed you so very much, My beautiful shining son. It is time you came home, Aisoku. That it is."   
  
With a chocked sob, Kenshin fell into the waiting arms of Seijurou Hiko and felt them close around him as tight as the arms of Heaven.   
  
"My beautiful shining son." Hiko's voice was hardly more than a raspy whisper against Kenshin's flaming hair. "My son... Kenshin... I love you, my Aisoku. I have always loved you, and I will continue to love you until death closes my eyes." Kenshin was sobbing uncontrollably within the protective circle of his Father's strong arms, and his own arms were wrapped fiercely around the big man as he buried his face against the broad chest. "You are not alone, Kenshin. You will never be alone again. I will stand by your side always, and I will watch your back through whatever battles you may have to fight. Together we will face the horrors of this world, and we will prevail. I will go forward with you today, and we will do what has to be done, and we will bring your beloved home. I swear this to you, or I will die trying to do so."   
  
*************  
  
"You realize you will never succeed in this don't you?"  
  
"You think I cannot make my wishes come true, Ugly Little Crow?"  
  
"No, I do not. Not this wish."  
  
THWWAAACK!  
  
"Do not ever talk to me like that again or I will hit you hard enough to knock your teeth out and scatter them on the floor. You mean nothing to me, do you understand. NOTHING. You are simply a means to an end."  
  
"He will never let you use him like that. He would never allow his spirit to be used for something so evil."  
  
"You really are quite stupid, aren't you? He does not have a choice in the matter. This is not a democracy, and we are not taking a vote or a poll on whether he gets to do this or not. He is, and that is that."  
  
"Over confidence can be a fatal character flaw. I should think you would want to be more cautious."  
  
"I am warning you, little Crow. Watch your tongue or I will cut it out of your stupid head. I have every right to be confident. After all, I have the child, don't I?"  
  
"That is true I suppose, but she will not get you very far will she? She is terribly small."  
  
SMMAACCK! THHWWACCK!  
  
"I told you to mind your sassy mouth, stupid Bitch. What do you know about this? What does an ugly little Crow like you know about anything? I will tell you what you know. You know absolutely nothing. Nothing. Did you hear me, you hideous white-faced Maggot? You know  
  
absolutely nothing about anything."  
  
"You are probably right. I do not know much of anything except kenjutsu. I bet you know a lot of things though. I bet you were educated at a university in a big city and know everything about anything, don't you? You probably have the knowledge of the Universe at your fingertips considering all of the affiliations you are connected with... isn't that right?"  
  
"Of course, I do. Did you know I am going to be a Queen? When the King of Hell comes through the doorway to take the Emperor's throne, he is going to make me his Queen. Do you not think I will be a beautiful Queen, little Crow? Will I not be the most glorious Queen the world has  
  
every seen?"  
  
"Most Certainly. You are so beautiful now. I can only imagine what you are going to look like in your most divine form sitting at your King's side. You will surely be Magnificence itself to behold."  
  
"SHUT-UP! I know what you are doing. Oh you think you are so clever don't you little Crow? Well, you are not. I see what you are trying to do, but I am not so easily manipulated as the idiots you are used to dealing with. Do not try to do it again."  
  
"All right, so you are more intelligent than I am. What does that prove?"  
  
"It proves I am better than you are. It proves He made a poor choice when he picked you for his lover. When we were together there was nothing I would not give him, nothing I was not willing to do for him, and only I could satisfy his raging passions in bed. Can you do that, ugly little Crow? Or can you even arouse his desires with your colorless skin and dead black hair? Does he lose control when he takes you in his arms? Does he breath your name in the voice of hunger? Look at yourself. You are hardly even a woman, much less a woman any man would wish to find warming the blankets of his bed. What can you possibly offer Him, ugly little Crow? What do you have that holds any sort of value that would keep a man like him bound to you?"  
  
"Something you could never give him."  
  
SMMAACCK!  
  
"I GAVE HIM EVERYTHING!"  
  
"You never gave him true love."  
  
"That is a lie! I loved him more than I have ever loved anyone, and he loved me. He would have died for me... and I gave him... I gave..." Her voice trailed away into silence as she stared into the honesty of large round blue eyes.  
  
"What did you give him? You never gave him your heart or yourself. You never gave him real love... the kind of love that lasts forever. You left him, remember. You never loved him enough to be waiting for him to come home to you for the rest of his life. You never loved him enough to promise him a peaceful haven within your arms and your heart where he could find the comfort he needed for his wounded and lonely soul, and you never loved him enough to be willing to give up your whole life to follow him wherever he went just so you could be with him." Kaoru's clear blue eyes bore unwaveringly into Elsbeth's stunned grey-green. "I do, and he knows I do."  
  
"I hate you."  
  
"I know. It does not matter."  
  
"Why? Does it not frighten you that I hate you so much? I could make your death very painful if I wanted to. Does that not frighten you, ugly little Crow?"  
  
"No. It does not frighten me."  
  
Why not?"  
  
"Because I do not care."  
  
"You should care, little Crow. You really should."  
  
"I suppose it should, but it does not. One way or another I will die tonight. Whether it is by your hand or by my own it really does not matter. I will still die." Elsbeth's eyes darted to Kaoru's serene face in surprised fury.  
  
"What are you saying to me? What do you think you know, you stupid girl?"  
  
"You are using me as bait to bring Kenshin here so you can use his ki to open your precious doorway. You believe he will be distracted by his concern for me and make a mistake trying to save me which will allow you to capture him,but I know Kenshin, and although I do not believe that  
  
could happen, I am not willing to take the chance. I will take my own life before I let you use me against him."  
  
"You would not dare. You do not have the courage to take your own life. I will not allow it!"  
  
"You have no say in the matter, My Lady. If I am already dead when Kenshin arrives, he can focus his full attention on you, and he will most asuredly kill you as well then your plan will fail." Kaoru smiled. "So you see Lady Katsura, in the end, you will still fail no matter how carefully you have planned everything. You will still fail."  
  
"EEEiiiiiaaaa!!!" TTTHHHHWWWWUUMMP!!!  
  
Kaoru's head fell forward limply as a screaming Elsbeth struck it with a wooden block. "You cannot stop me if you are unconscious, stupid little Crow. Because if you are unconscious, you will not be able to take your own life." She laughed wickedly and her angelic features shifted  
  
beneath the flesh. "Now we will see who succeeds and who fails." Elsbeth watched in pleasure as a thin trickling line of blood traced a pathway down Kaoru's left temple, over her cheek, and then dripped off her chin landing to make a dark red circle against the pale lavender yukata she wore.   
  
She deftly caught a drop on the tip of a slender finger in mid air as it slipped from the pale skin. Grey-green eyes danced with exquisite pleasure as she slid the finger into her mouth.  
  
"Mmmmm. Yummy." She purred. "I may have to save a little bit of you for later, my tasty little Crow." Then she left Kaoru hanging unconscious and standing bound hand and foot to a tall wooden stake that had been partially buried in the ground. A heavy iron door closed in on Kaoru leaving her in total darkness. It was not long until the dark of night would come. Not very long at all. 


	17. Battle of The Flaming Sword

Glossary: Otousan/Otou=father, fusuma=inside door, Aisoku=beloved son, Asiai=beloved wife, Tenshi=angel, Koishii=dear or darling, Oni=demon, Jikogu=lowest hell, Meito=mate, Saiai=beloved, Aman=lover, Kiobito=sweetheart  
  
  
  
Chapter 17  
  
  
  
Battle of the Flaming Sword   
  
  
  
  
  
Part One   
  
The Sword of Heaven   
  
Soujirou watched from the doorway of Kenshin's room as his beloved Father stood weeping within the embrace of his own 'Otousan'. Strange that it had never occurred to him that Kenshin might have been missing the same kind of love and acceptance in his life that he had so openly given to his own adopted sons, and that he might be carrying within his heart a pain nearly as great as the one Soujirou had buried inside of his so many years before. An emotion more compelling that any he had yet to encounter reached deep down into a part of his soul he did know existed and closed a strong hand around him and pulled him through the fusuma. Silent feet that no longer obeyed his conscious mind carried him across the polished wood floor toward the two men locked in each others embrace.  
  
When he reached their side, a hand rose slowly with the grace of a dove's wing and touched the black hair of the larger man. It was a touch of question, a touch of entreaty, a touch of hope and need. 'Here I am. May I...? Am I...?'  
  
Deep emerald eyes filled with the tears of ages long past rose to meet the wide-open innocence of dark blue-grey overflowing with distress and want. The heavily muscled arm pulled free from its mooring around the distraught red-haired man and reached for Soujirou.   
  
Kenshin lifted his head from Hiko's chest when he felt the loss of the protective strength of his strong arm, and he found himself face to face with his own son.  
  
"Soujirou..." He whispered brokenly and reached out with a violently trembling arm to pull his son into a crushing embrace against his heart and buried a tear streaked face against his neck. "My radiant son. My Aisoku. I love you, Soujirou." Hiko's arm closed around them both as he shed tears over those who were becoming his family.   
  
His beloved family. His loved ones. His precious ones.   
  
The gapping empty hole within his soul was beginning to shrink.  
  
"Otousan, I am going with you as well. I refuse to stay behind while you go and risk yourself." Soujirou's voice was filled with an almost angry tone as he glared at Kenshin. "I will not allow you to go without me. You cannot do this alone."  
  
"YOU will not allow it?" Kenshin was incredulous at his son's impertinence. "It is not something you can allow or disallow, Soujirou. It is mine to decide who goes and who stays."  
  
"NOT THIS TIME!" The young swordsman roared into his fathers stunned face. "You may be my Father, but I am still Seta Soujirou, The Tenkin. I am still 'The Sword of Heaven' and I choose when, where, and to whom I place my sword into service with." He rose angrily to his feet with fists clenched at his sides, and his eyes a piercing pale azure-blue. "And I have chosen to place it in your service, Himura Kenshin, the once Hitokiri Battousai. That is my choice, NOT YOURS!" His beautful blue eyes began to take on an other-worldly glow sending a pale azure light gleaming outward to surround his face like a halo.  
  
Kenshin and Hiko both sat speechless in awe of the young man's unusual angry outburst. It would appear that Soujirou was relenting on his previous declaration of relinquishing those titles when he became Kenshin's son. Perhaps it was just as well. After all, did not Kenshin revert back to and occasionally use the Battousai when he needed to? It would not be right to have a double standard for himself and not his gifted son as well. Besides, it was a fact, the Tenken would be much more helpful in this situation that Seta Soujirou.  
  
"All right. Set down, you made your point. It looks like I am stuck with both of you..."  
  
"You are 'stuck' with all of us... my brother." Kenshin's startled gaze shot toward the fusuma which had been slid open with expert silence, and saw Aoshi and Saitoh standing there.  
  
"Indeed, Battousai. It seems quite selfish and self-centered of you to try and take all the glory for yourself." Saitoh tossed his cigarette away and blew out a grey puff of smoke. "Besides, it was supposed to be you and I doing this together from the beginning anyway. Was it not?" Thin brows rose sardonically. "I almost feel offended you were going to try and leave me out of the fun." A ghost of a half smile tugged the corner of his thin lips, but his narrowed eyes were very serious. "Do you not realize if you are to get young Kamiya back alive, you are going to need a great deal of assistance? This is not Shishio... this is worse."  
  
"He is right, Himura. You need all of us, and in your heart you know this." Aoshi's sharp jade eyes sought out and found Kenshin's violet gaze and held it. "Each of us knows the dangers we face, and each of us knows that death is a possibility so that releases you from the responsibility you seem to feel for our lives. We are not your problem." He stared hard into Kenshin's eyes trying to make him understand. "Elsbeth Katsura is."   
  
"You are cornered, Otousan." Soujirou knelt down beside Kenshin and placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "Your friends and family have left you no choices accept one. We are going with you so you may as well get used to the idea, and help us get started on a plan." An angelic smile curved his shapely mouth. "Do you not agree? The hours are slipping away and time will not wait for us."  
  
Kenshin gazed into the face of the 'Tenken'. A face he had not seen for a very long time and felt a cold chill pass over him leaving gooseflesh in it's wake. 'Do not leave me, Soujirou. Do not get lost 'in there'.' He prayed within himself as he nodded his head.  
  
"Yes, you are right. Time will not wait for us." Kenshin looked around the room into each of the four faces of the men surrounding him, and saw in each of them a different gift, a different talent, and a different strength. Within the small room he had gathered about him a small army of the finest swordsmen in the land, but he would still have to plan carefully in order to use each to the best of his abilities. Plus, he must remember 'what' and 'whom' they were facing. That changed  
  
everything.  
  
It could not be a usual-type of a tactical battle plan.  
  
This would not be like any sort of a battle either of them had ever faced.   
  
The weapons would still be swords, but the strength of each sword was going to be based on the amount of Truth, Honor, Trust, and Courage it's wielder felt, and on the strength and purity of his spirit-ki not necessarily the strength of his body. The sharpness of the blade and the skill of the warrior were secondary.  
  
But most of all, this battle was going to be fought using the spiritual energy of the The Mother's Flaming Sword, and only the spiritual strength of the wielder's ki could determine the power of the swords strength. The purer his Faith and Love and the stronger his resolve and determination, the more powerful would be the striking force of the sword.   
  
It was going to be a War between the Flaming Ki of The Mother's Elemental Warrior and the powerful black magic of Hell's Destroying Angel.  
  
It was going to be a battle for the destiny of the soul's of men, and the battlefield was going to be a place lost somewhere between the planes of Heaven and Hell, and only death would decide the who the victor would be.  
  
"Let's get started then." Kenshin waved the men inside and everyone took a seat on a floor. A close circle was formed and the discussion was opened. Kenshin explained everything he knew about Elsbeth's plans concerning the Imperial Palace and the reason she had taken Kaoru. When he was finished, he looked into the faces around him and waited for replies.  
  
"Bait? Hmmm, I am inclined to agree, Himura, but does not the doorway have to be opened by the 'blood of the innocent'? You are not an innocent, my friend." Aoshi's eyes held a hint of humor behind their serious look.  
  
"You are right. I had not thought of that." Kenshin's forehead wrinkled in thought, but his eyes reflected amuzement as he took note of Aoshi's uncostomary jibe.  
  
"It would stand to reason then, that she would have to find an alternative way to open the doorway before she uses your ki to keep it open?" Hiko exchanged quizzical glances with Aoshi.  
  
"There can be only one logical answer." All eyes turned to Saitoh. "She has another child prepared as sacrifice to open the doorway. Then she would use Himura."   
  
"Another child?" Kenshin and Hiko's whispered exclamation was voiced in unison.  
  
"No. Not another child. Not another little one." Aoshi had gone pale, and his face reflected a terrible sorrow that seemed to be felt by everyone.  
  
"Of course, she has another child." Soujirou's perky voice shocked the group who all turned to stare at him. "Just like Hajime-san said. It is the most logical answer to her dilema." The innocent smile was still pasted on his boyish face as he continued to speak. "She obviously cannot use Kamiya-dono because then she would be worthless as bait for the Battousai, so she would have had to make allowances for that little discrimination, and a child is the perfect solution. I hate to admit it, but Lady Elsbeth is quite clever. Very evil, but quite clever." He absently stroked the hilt of his sword. "I suppose that means we should hurry and decide on a plan of action. It would be tragic if another innocent child were to lose its life because we were not prepared." Shimmering azure-blue eyes that glowed strangely in Soujirou's face, looked into Kenshin's astonished eyes. "I think I should be the one to save the child. After all, I am the fastest and I would have the best chance of rescuing it. Do you agree?"  
  
"Ahem." Hiko nervously cleared his throat. This was the first time he had seen the 'Tenken' and it disturbed him, but he could understood now how the boyish looking assassin had remained so elusive and so proficient for so many years. No one would expect a youth with such a  
  
pleasant nature and happy disposition to be a ruthless cold-blooded murderer. "I think I would tend to agree with... 'The Tenken'. He is the fastest and would have the best opportunity to get past the Witches guards and save the child."  
  
Soujirou smiled brightly and nodded his head. He did not seemed the least bit disturbed that Hiko had called him 'The Tenken'. However, Kenshin was disturbed. "All right, Soujirou," He stressed his sons name. "You fly like an Eagle then." He locked eyes with the oddly glowing light blue gaze of his son. "You fly like you never have before, do you understand me? Everything could very well depend on your being able to reach that child at just the precise moment."  
  
"Of course, Otousan. I think I can manage the full shicuchi inside the Throne Room. I was inside once a long time ago, and I do not remember it being a terribly confined space. Indeed, I remember a huge room with massive pillars and vast open spaces. So," He nodded happily like the bobbing head of a baby bird. "I am certain I can manage it without any problem. I will snatch the child right out from under her nose before she even realizes what had happened." The merry smile on his face widened. "I cannot wait to see the look of surprise on her face when the child disappears right in front of her eyes." Soujirou giggled.  
  
Kenshin looked at Hiko and they shared a worried glance. Aoshi and Saitoh gazed at Soujirou warily because they both had knowledge of 'The Tenken' from past experiences, and this transformation had happened so easily it left the two of them feeling quite uncomfortable. Again, only time would tell if the young swordsman would come back as easily as he had gone.   
  
Kenshin turned to the others. "My attention will be focused on Elsbeth. I need the three of you to take out whomever else she has brought with her." He looked at his hands and tried to remember what he had seen on the mountain. "The last time I watched her perform a ritual, there were four men with her. Now, I do not know if the man who died at the prison entrance was one of them or not, so continue to expect four. The rest of the people who were there seemed to be poor souls she had pulled in under a spell of some sort. They were murdered by... well... they died very badly." The lightening bolts were something he had never gotten around to telling anyone about.   
  
"What do you mean, they 'died badly'?" Hiko grasp Kenshin's arm and pulled him around to face him. "You never really mentioned this before. All you ever said was they were killed as part of the ritual. Is there something we need to know, Kenshin?"  
  
A deeply thoughtful look crossed Kenshin's face before he chose to answer Hiko's pointed question. "A long time ago, when I was very little, I remember my Mother talking about the demon's that lived inside of storm clouds. She would cry to my father that the black clouds were filled with demons that killed people who dared stay outside when it rained, and that the thunder and lightening were the weapons the demon's used to kill them. I could never remember what she called them though, at least not until the night I got trapped on the mountain watching Elsbeth." Kenshin's face showed pain and introspection. "I watched over 30 people die that night, and they died screaming in terror for their lives... and their souls."  
  
"What killed them, brother? What did you watch happen to them?" Aoshi had a gentle quality to his voice. "It was what your Mother told you about, wasn't it? What was it called, and what did it do to them?"  
  
"Black clouds... black clouds so black that they look like the pit of Hell itself. They roll and move inside and outside of themselves like they are alive, and they can fly across the sky faster than you can imagine." Kenshin met Aoshi's eyes. "It is lightening they use, but then again, it is not. This is lightening with a will and mind of its own. It slashes down out of the black and strikes here, and then it strikes there, but each time it strikes something dies." Aoshi blinked. "It struck over 30 times that night, and when it finally stopped, every single one of those people were gone and there was not one body to be found because all of them had been burnt to nothing more than ashes. They had been struck down by the wrath of 'The Demon's Finger'."  
  
"Is THAT what your Mother called it?" Hiko's incredulous voice sounded at his right. "The Demon's Finger?"  
  
"Yes." Another deep look of introspection crossed Kenshin's face as he tried to remember a past long forgotten. "You know, I have often thought that my Mother may have been European of some type. That is where my odd coloring comes from is her." He indicated his hair and eyes. "I remember she did not have a Japanese name either. Her name was... Dharma, I think, and she spoke our language with an odd accent. 'The Demon's Finger' must have been a myth from her country, or perhaps some sort of a legend, but imagine my shock when I was allowed to see that It was actually a real and tangible horror that men needed to be wary of."  
  
"There is a name for it here in Japan as well." Aoshi's voice was low and held an almost reverent tone. "It is called 'The Hand of Hinokagutsuchi'"  
  
"The Hand of Fire?" Saitoh turned and looked at Aoshi in shock. "I have never heard of 'The Hand of Fire' before. Is it something that is taught in the Temples?" But before Aoshi could answer he was interruped by someone none of them would have expected to knowledge about such things.  
  
"I have heard of 'The Hand of Fire." The reverent respectful voice of 'The Tenken' caught everyone's attention. "The Hand of Fire' is the most powerful of all the lightenings that can strike the Earth. It alone can create explosions and devistation within any substance or structure by lashing out with it's insurmountable strength. It is fury ,rage, and spirit energy in its purest form, and there is nothing existing in Heaven or Earth that withstand it or stop it. It is the ultimate power of Domination, but it does not always have to be used for the purpose of Evil."  
  
"What??" Kenshin's voice was raised in shock. "You mean the 'The Hand of Fire' can be used for good as well as bad? How?"  
  
"Just as with all things, it depends upon the Heart of the One who is wielding it. If the heart is evil, the Hand will be destructive and malevolent. If the heart is pure, the power will destroy only that which the wielder asks it too. Only those things percieved as evil."   
  
As Kenshin watched Soujirou and the way he was smiling and the look of peace that passed through his now pale blue eyes, he thought his son almost resembled one of the Tenshi statues in the Temple. Cocking his head to one side, he considered this strange idea. Could Soujirou be an Angel? Was that why he had appeared so golden and beautiful when they had crossed over into the alternate reality, and was that why he continued to identify himself with the name 'The Sword of Heaven'? 'Is that why his spirit ki was defined by the element of Air?' Kenshin stared at the boyish face and wondered.   
  
"Well, since we are going to be inside, I do not think we are going to have to worry about the 'Hand'. Unless it has started raining indoors and I have not heard about it." Trust Saitoh to be the voice of sarcastic reason. Everyone smiled. "Should we not be getting back on task now?"  
  
"Yes. Yes. Where was I?" Kenshin looked into his lap trying to remember.   
  
"You were talking about how all those unfortunate idiots died, and how you think we may only have to worry about the four assholes she brought with her in the beginning." Thank-you Saitoh.  
  
"How is she going to get rid of the extra people this time?" Hiko shared his curiosity with the rest of the group. "She is obviously not using the same method as before, so what is she going to do with them?"  
  
"There will not be any other people." Aoshi shifted and stretched one of his legs to relieve a cramp. "She has not had the time to gather any disciples or followers here in Kyoto. While she was in Enshii and the Taki Mountain area, she had many months to seduce the people and gain influence over their weaker minds."  
  
"I would agree." Saitoh nodded.  
  
"So do I." Hiko flexed his aching shoulders trying to relieve the tension that was building in his back and neck.  
  
"It would be a logical assumption. I agree as well." Soujirou's beaming smile implied his concurrence with the other men's decisions.  
  
"All right then. That leaves Elsbeth and her four consorts. The three of you are in charge of the consorts. Soujirou is to rescue the child, and Elsbeth is mine." Kenshin sighed as the details of a viable plan started to take shape. 'I wish Sano were here.'  
  
"What about Kaoru, Kenshin? Who is going to get Kaoru?" The voice Hiko used was soft, tentative, and filled with the open offer. 'I will go.'   
  
"I will. She is my Aisai." Was Kenshin's quiet but firmly spoken answer.   
  
"I understand," Hiko's voice was deceptively flat. "But now you understand something." Kenshin was forced to meet Hiko's glittering yellow-green gaze when he heard a harsh authoritarian tone fill his fathers' voice. "If the opportunity presents itself to me, or to any of the others sitting here, we will not hesitate to take it." Kenshin blinked in the face of Hiko's rock solid refusal to stay out of his way when it came to Kaoru. "Do you understand that, my stiff-necked, block-headed, stubborn son?"  
  
Kenshin's mouth dropped open about an inch, and he found he could not utter a single sound as he met the hard look in Hiko's eyes. All he could do was nod his head like a stuffed dummy.  
  
"Good. I am glad we got that little issue cleared up, now we can focus on the important stuff. Like how we are going to do this without any of us getting dead."   
  
"Agreed." All five voices chimed in unison, and the serious planning began.  
  
Part Two  
  
Is This a Dungeon?  
  
It sounded so much like a whimpering child that the inborn mothering instinct inside of her pushed her unconscious mind into a reality she had only recently allowed herself to dream about.  
  
It was Summer and all of the flowers around the koi pond were in full bloom making crazy patterns of yellows, reds, blues, purples, and even pale greens. It was her favorite place to sit with the baby. He loved it here too because the sound of the water splashing and lapping against the sides of the huge cement bowl seemed to relax him, and he would often fall asleep in her arms or snuggled up against her breast.  
  
He was beautiful. Her son. Kenshin's son.   
  
He looked like Kenshin. He had Kenshin's flaming red hair and bright amethyst eyes, but he had his mother's temper and feisty disposition and ever since he had arrived into their lives, he had become the center of their world.  
  
She had never thought it possible to love anyone more than she loved Kenshin, but the feelings she felt for this tiny bundle of fidgeting arms and legs that cried to be fed and cleaned up constantly had so stolen her heart, that sometimes it felt like there was no time for Kenshin at all.   
  
She knew he understood though. Didn't he? Babies required more time because they were completely dependant on their mothers for everything, and everything else would just have to wait. But sometimes it was so hard to watch her lover walk around the dojo with his head held low and that resigned look on his face. She could feel how lonely he was, but did not know what to do about it. It was not that simple to find time away from the baby. He never let her have a moments peace, so how was she supposed to be able to take care of him and Kenshin too?  
  
It was becoming more and more difficult for her to look at Kenshin when he had that look on his face. He was breaking her heart, and it was not fair for him to do that. It was not like she had many choices other than what she was doing. She loved her son so much, but.... Did that mean she had to stop loving Kenshin? Did having a baby mean giving up a husband? Did it mean losing a lover? She felt so confused because she knew she was doing the right things. She was Kenji's mother and she had to take care of him. He depended on her for everything, but... Kenshin?  
  
The baby was finally sleeping and it was just early afternoon. She stepped quietly out of the room and closed the fusuma very carefully. Looking around the dojo's yard, she spied Kenshin hanging wet clothes on the line to dry in the fresh afternoon breeze. She smiled tenderly and walked to where he was.  
  
"Whatcha doin'?" She asked in a playful voice as she walked up behind him and dropped her chin on his shoulder. It startled her when she felt him stiffen beneath her contact.  
  
"Just hanging laundry." His reply was even toned and gave no hint that he had caught her mood. "Why aren't you with the baby?" The question stung her, and she almost pulled away but changed her mind.  
  
"He is sleeping, so I thought I would take the chance to come and spend some time with you." She hoped that would have some affect on him and waited for his response.  
  
"Oh, well I am not really doing anything very important or exciting. You will probably be bored." Again he answered her in the same non emotional tone as he reached into the basket for another piece of clothing to hang.  
  
"Weelll, maybe we could find something interesting to do after you are done." She tipped her head at an angle so she could look at his handsome profile. "Or I could help you. Can I help you?"  
  
"No." It was a flat denial.  
  
Now she did pull back as his abrupt rejection caused a stabbing pain to slice through her heart. She blinked rapidly as the sting of salty tears started to burn her eyes. "Why? Why can't I help?"  
  
"Because. This is my job. The baby is your job. So, why don't you go back to the baby." There was a definite tone of angry hurt laced through that statement, and she felt the tears spill over the edge of her lashes and run down her face.  
  
"I told you, he is asleep. I wanted to spend some time with you."  
  
"Maybe I do not want to spend any time with you!" His furious tone and face caught her off guard as he turned on her. "You have not had time for me for over three months. You have not even hardly noticed that I still live or exist here with you. So you tell me, why in the hell would I want to spend any time with you just because you all of a sudden decide you have a few spare minutes you can toss in my direction? I have more pride than that!" By the time he finished he was shouting into her tear streaked face and his eyes were a flaming amber gold.   
  
"I... I am sorry.." She tried to apologize.  
  
"You are sorry??" He looked at her as if she were insane. "You are sorry??" He repeated. "Do you not understand that it is too late for your pitiful "I am sorry"? I do not even want to talk to you right now. Go back to your son. I have laundry to hang. I... I .. I have things... I have things to do." Then he turned his back on her broken tear streaked face and closed her off from him.  
  
"Kenshin...?" She whispered but he would not respond. "Kenshin...? Still he would not turn around. Then the whimpering sound of a fusing baby came floating along the breeze from the direction of the dojo.  
  
"The baby is crying. He needs you. Now go back to your son. Go back to where you belong." Depression and despair filled his usually kind and loving voice. "I have the laundry and dinner to cook to keep me occupied." His head turned slightly towards her and she could see the  
  
shiny pathway of tears as they slid over his cross-shaped scar. "I will be fine."  
  
A choking sob burst from her tight chest and she turned to run away. He watched her run all the way back to the baby's room and disappear through the door.   
  
She knelt down and picked up the wailing infant and held him to her breast. He immediately stopped his fussing and snuggled against her softness. As she watched him, Kaoru started to cry harder. This beautiful little soul was destroying her life with her beloved husband.   
  
She was losing Kenshin because of his own son.  
  
"You are breaking my heart, Kenji." She cried and buried her face in his chubby little neck feeling his little hands and arms trying to wrap around her head. "We have to come to some sort of an understanding, you and I." She pulled back and looked deeply into intelligent violet eyes that looked so much like his father's. "I know you need me, but your father needs me too. Can you understand that? Can you?" Holding him up high so she could study his face, Kaoru wondered if he would ever understand. "I love your father, Kenji. I love him just as much as I love you, but I have forgotten all about him because of you and it has made him very sad. I do not know how to fix what is hurting inside of him. He does not want to talk to me because he is so hurt. How do I fix it if he will not talk to me? What can I do?" She hugged the baby over her shoulder and patted his back with her hand. "I miss him too."  
  
The tears sliding down her face were what brought Kaoru back into consciousness, and the first thing she did was look for Kenshin, but she was not at the dojo and she did not have a baby in her arms. She was someplace where there was no light and the darkness seemed to have physical substance. For several long and frightening seconds Kaoru did not remember where she was, and she struggled with the urge to scream. Then memories of the last few hours came flooding through her hazy mind.  
  
Kenshin is dead. Kenshin is alive. Yahiko is alive. Kidnapped from she and Kenshin's room through a slit in the wall. Captured by the Witch Queen. Ugly Little Crow. The King of Hell. The Age of Dominian. Kenshin's ki. She wants Kenshin's ki to keep the doorway open and I am the bait.  
  
There was something else too, but she could not quite remember. Then she heard it. Soft, tiny, pitiful. The little girl.  
  
She could not be more than two or three years of age. Kaoru had gotten quite a good look at her while Elsbeth had been inside of this room trying to torment her. She was not much more than a baby with her huge round blue-green eyes and fluffy black hair. There was a large bruise on the side of her face where someone had hit her very hard probably when she was snatched from her bed. Kaoru had been able to glean from Elsbeth's inane ramblings that she had slashed the child's mothers throat then taken the little girl. "No loose ends that way. No witnesses to tell the tale." Kaoru had shuddered at the woman's cold and unfeeling manner of speaking about murder as if it were nothing more than squashing a cockroach found in your house.   
  
The child was to be used for the sole purpose of opening the doorway since only pure blood could provide the needed element for that ritual, but it was the incredible strength of Kenshin's ki that Elsbeth planned to use to keep it open forever. She had explained that it was justice for his interference in her plans and for stealing the boy from her. The boy would have been more than enough, but Kenshin was even better because his ki was so 'hot'. This comparison had sent Elsbeth into a fit of giggles that would have done any teenage girl proud.  
  
Kaoru cocked her head to the side and carefully listened to the whimpering sounds the child was making trying to pinpoint a location. It sounded to like the girl was on her left, but quite a few feet away. "Do not cry, Little One." She tried to make her voice sound as consoling and comforting as possible. "You are not alone. My name is Kaoru and I am in here with you. Can you tell me your name?" She waited, but nothing happened. "Do not be afraid, I am not going to hurt you like the red-haired lady. She locked me in here just like you. I do not like her either." Again she waited, but still nothing happened and Kaoru dug around in her brain looking for an idea. "Maybe we can be friends, I am afraid of the dark you know. At home in my room I have a dolly that I sleep with at night. My mother gave her to me when I was a little girl, and she told me that as long as I had that dolly none of the scarey things in the dark could get me. I sure do miss my dolly." She let a big sigh sound through the dark and waited.  
  
"I hasth a dolly too. Hur name isth Toon."  
  
"I bet she is pretty. My dolly's name is Kenshin. She has long red hair and purple eyes. What does your dolly look like?"  
  
"Sthe has bown hawr and boo eyes."  
  
"What color is her dress?" Keep her talking Kaoru.  
  
"It isth boo too. And sthe has back shooze."  
  
"It sounds like she is very pretty. Kenshin wears a pink blouse and a white... skirt. She likes to wear sandles and purple tabi. Maybe when we get out of here Toon and Kenshin could play together. What do you think?"  
  
"Toon like dat."  
  
Kaoru smiled. The girl must be closer to three because she had quite a good vocabulary. "Well if Toon and Kenshin are going to be friends do you think you and I should be friends too?"  
  
"Can we do dat? Would you be my fend?" The little voice was quivery with fear.  
  
"I would like to be your friend. Would you like to be mine?"  
  
"Yesth.' Thank-you Kami-sama.  
  
"I told you my name. It is Kaoru. What is your name?"  
  
"Kuumi."  
  
"It is very nice to meet you, Kuumi. Let's stay friends forever, Ok?"  
  
"Ok." Then it was quiet in the darkness for a while and Kaoru was wondering if her little friend had drifted off to sleep, but just as Kaoru thought she might try to sleep the little voice floated though the air.   
  
"Kauwo?"  
  
"Nani Kuumi?  
  
"Isth this a dungeon?"  
  
Kaoru's tongue turned to lead in her mouth. She did not know how to answer that question. She really was not sure where they were or what this place was, but the child's assumption held a ring of truth in it.   
  
"I... I... I do not know little one. I truly do not know."  
  
"Auwr we gonna die?"  
  
A fierce feeling of determination and the will to survive began to burn inside Kaoru's heart. She had to believe. Kenshin had once told her that he loved her enough to want to live. She had told Elsbeth that she would kill herself before she would allow herself to be used as bait against his life, but was that true? Was she willing to die without first fighting to live? He was going to come, and she knew he was not going to come alone. They would all come. Hiko, Aoshi, Soujirou, and  
  
probably even Saitoh. She had to have faith. She had to believe.  
  
"No, baby. We are not going to die. The Angel's are coming to get us." Kaoru closed her eyes and tried to push her spirit energy out of her body and send it to find Kenshin. 'I am alive, koishii. I am here waiting. I believe in you. I know you will come. I know this is not the end, not yet. I love you, Kenshin I promise I will never forget about you when the baby comes. I promise.'  
  
"The Angel's are coming to set us free."  
  
Part Three   
  
Kaoru, is that You, Aisai?  
  
Kenshin finished tying the cloth belt of the hakama he had just put on and surveyed himself in the mirror. He was dressed entirely in white by his own choice. The white gi he borrowed from Aoshi was a little long in the sleeves, but he felt that could eventually work to his advantage.   
  
Bending his head down, he let his nimble fingers comb their way through his long red hair and pulled it up high on the back of his head where he secured it in an uncustomary topknot.  
  
The individual who looked back at him from the mirror now was neither Himura Kenshin nor the Hitokiri Battousai. He was an odd mixture of both men neither having the upper hand in controlling this person's actions. Instead, a completely new man with new resolutions and  
  
convictions was reflected there. He stood taller, straighter, and with the confidence of long years of skill and experience behind him. His dark blue-purple eyes were sharp and clear and showed no signs of fear, doubt, or wavering. Hands that were steady and sure slid the sheathed katana into the belt of his hakama.  
  
"Am I ready?" He asked his reflection as he met the steady gaze of his own eyes. "Am I ready to face this fate my life has brought me to?" Kenshin drew in a deep breath and bowed his head. Once more he noted to himself that he had never been a religious or deeply spiritual man before all of this had started, but the need to pray for God's assistance had seemed more than appropriate at more than one time during these dark times, and it appeared that since he had started to pray God had been on their side.  
  
"Kami-sama, give strength and endurance to my heart and spirit and help me face this terrible task I must do. I beg for forgiveness for the life I must take, and I ask for the help and the understanding that I will need to keep me from faltering when the moment comes. Let my blade  
  
strike straight and true so that thy Holy Justice might be served for the lives of all the innocents whose blood has been spilt upon the Altar of Damnation in the name of the King of Hell and Darkness. I beg Thee to let me end this Witch's blasphemies tonight before she is allowed to harm  
  
even one more soul including the child and the woman whom she holds as her captives as I speak these words." He gripped the hilt of his sword and sank to the floor on one knee. "From the very core of my soul, I beg of Thee let me free this woman who is held captive. She is my light, my  
  
salvation, and my life. Without her at my side, I have no reason to remain in this world. She is my love, my Aisai... when we can stand before Buddha and speak the words, but in my heart she is my Wife, my soul, and my whole world. Kami-sama... please give me the power and the strength to pull her out of the pit of Hell and back into the light."  
  
Kenshin climbed to his feet on slightly shaky legs and faced himself in the mirror again. He ran a trembling hand over his face and wiped away the few tears that had managed to escape the confines of his eyelids, and then he took several deep breaths to cleans himself and settle his nervous emotions. He flexed the muscles of his shoulders and back to relieve the tension and rolled his neck popping the vertebrae back into place. "Now I am ready." The steady dark purple eyes in the mirror met his look without question. "I can do this."   
  
As he turned to leave the room a strange feeling invaded his concentration. Kenshin stopped mid stride, and allowed the sensation to flow through him while he attempted to identify it. It was cool and endless as an icecap, yet smooth and clear as a mountain lake. It was reserved and distant, yet there was the hint of a burning passion lurking beneath the cool exterior waiting for just the right door to be opened to let it out. It was soft and tender, but hard and solid as stone. It was  
  
gentle. It was harsh. It was happy. It was sad. It laughed. It cried. It.... loved him.  
  
"Kaoru?" Kenshin whirled around the room looking everywhere as if he almost expected her to be right there in the room with him. "Kaoru... Aisai? Koishii, is that YOU?" He could feel her presence just like she was standing right next to him except he could not touch her. He could  
  
smell her perfume, her hair, the musky scent that was simply hers alone. When he closed his eyes, he could see her standing in front of him wearing the lavender yukata she had on when she disappeared. There was blood on her face, and dark bruises around both eyes. Kenshin felt the  
  
beginnings of a righteous and holy rage start to burn within his heart as he studied her abused face.   
  
He concentrated hard and thought he could just make out what she was trying to say to him.  
  
"..alive.... I know you are coming.... Not the end.... I love you, Kenshin.... Never forget.... When the baby comes... I promise." And then she was gone. Kenshin's eyes flew open in equal amounts of shock and confusion.  
  
"BABY??" He stumbled backwards a couple of steps as he tried to digest what he had just learned. "A baby?" Kaoru? A baby? His baby? Of course it was his baby. Baka-Kenshin. He thought about the implications of that piece of knowledge and despite the gravity of the situation, Kenshin smiled. They were going to have a niuuji. Kaoru was pregnant with his child. His first child.   
  
"No." He amended out loud with another smile. "My third child." Kenshin cast a last long look at the man reflected in the mirror. "You better be ready. She is waiting on your ass, and you best not let her down. Besides that, you have an entire new family waiting to make up for lost time, and you do not want to miss out on that, so move it, Himura. The clock is ticking and time is not going to wait for you. You are as ready as you are ever going to be. Have a little faith, My Friend."   
  
Part Four   
  
Moon Rise: 7:00pm : Time to Leave  
  
A gentle but firm knock sounded against the wood frame of the fusuma a spare moment before it slid open to show the pale outline of Okina.  
  
"It is Moonrise, My Friends." His finger pointed to the Eastern sky indicating the huge bulbous white orb that was floating above the distant mountains in the ink black sky. "The time is approximately seven o'clock and that should just about give you four or five hours until it reaches  
  
its apex. It will take you at least two hours to reach the Palace."  
  
The five men he addressed were setting on the floor of Aoshi's meditation room in a loose circle. They had just spent the last three hours in introspective silence as they prepared for the night ahead and the dangers each of them would face. The odor of sacred incense filled the air and five candles burned on a small Altar beneath a beautifully carved jade statue of the God Buddha.   
  
"We have made our peace with God." Aoshi stood and bowed deeply before the Altar and the statue. "Now it is time to make peace within ourselves and take up this burden, for there is no one else who can." He faced his comrades and spread his arms wide. "Come then, lets us choose  
  
our weapons and armor, and then we must be on our way. We have a long way to go, and time is not on our side." The other four men stood and took their places behind Kenshin and they all left the room and walked into the night. Okina led them to the armory room where all of the swords, shields, kunai, knives, and all manner of other weapons were kept. Each man chose those things which he thought would assist him in his perspective responsibilities and hid them in his belt or boot where they could be easily reached.  
  
Kenshin and his small army stood freely in the open air beneath the white light of the Full Autumn Moon. Each stood prepared to do what had to be done, and each brought with him his own unique gift to fortify the strength of the group.  
  
Seigurou Hiko, 13th Master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu brought his full lifes experience as an unmatched swordsman of tremendous endurance and strength and a rock solid ki with the awesome crushing force of an avalanche. Earth.  
  
Shinemori Aoshi, former leader of the Onniwabanshuu brought his double kodachi's, his perfectly attuned ninja skills, and a ki with the thunderous power of a thousand flooded raging rivers. Water.  
  
Seta Soujirou, The Tenken, The Sword of Heaven; brought with him his faster than God-like speed shicuchi, the deadly accuracy of his lightening quick sword, and a ki filled with the seething wrath of a twisting screaming typhoon. Air.   
  
Hijame Saitoh, former leader in the Shinsengumi, acting Police Captain of Kyoto, and the Legendary Mibu wolf brought with him the cunning, ferocity, and ruthlessness of wild mountain wolf, and he brought the keen intelligence, sharp wit, and courage of a true warrior. Honor.  
  
Himura Kenshin, former Hitokiri Battousai of the Bakumatsu brought with him a sword that had never known true defeat, his determination, his will to survive, and his need to see Justice served, and a ki overflowing with the all of the boiling fury and love he possessed within his heart  
  
and soul. The fires burning within him leapt and danced like great flaming pillars as they fed on the intermixed and intertwined pieces of ki that had been given to him from the other three men. As the  
  
temperature within him grew and the flames burned higher and brighter, the red and orange colors faded and flared into the brilliant pure white of Heaven's Burning Heart. The holy fire began to generate an exceeding hotness borne of his riotous rage and conceived by the combination of  
  
Mother Earth's four basic elements, and it could not be matched by any other. Fire. Earth. Water. Air.  
  
The Elemental White Warrior of Mother Earth was finished. The Flaming Sword was prepared.  
  
  
  
The White Warrior and his Elemental Army were armed and ready to face The Destroying Angel of Hell. Okina opened the front gate of the Aoiya, and they walked out into the moonlit street and began the journey into the land of Witches and Demons.  
  
The Warriors of Heaven left for War, and only the light of morning would see who still lived and who had died. The War for the dominion over the souls of men was beginning. Time: 8:43pm.  
  
Part Five  
  
Prepare for The Unholy Coming: Time 10:03pm   
  
  
  
Karou was jarred awake by Kuumi's terrified screams. Her dark blue eyes shot open in a heartbeat, and she saw three men wearing pale grey hooded cloaks entering the room they were in. Now that the door was open, Kaoru could see that it was dark beyond its barrier. It's night  
  
already? Mou. The daytime hours had gone by so swiftly it seemed to her. How could it be dark so soon?  
  
"Untie her hands, and be quick about it." Kaoru heard Elsbeth's ridged commanding voice and noticed her small shapely formed outlined in the doorway. "Everything has to be in place and perfect when the Moon reaches its apex. Not one thing must go wrong tonight, do you nderstand?   
  
Not ONE thing, or so help me you are all food for the crows." The men scurried towards Kaoru and while one untied her feet, another untied her hands, and the third placed a foul tasting cloth gag in her mouth and tied it around her neck. She muffled a scream of pure agony as her arms were suddenly relieved of their unnatural position and dropped to her sides. The muscles and joints howled in excruciating pain from the long hours of being bound to the large stake, and unbidden tears spilled over bruised cheeks and fell to the floor.   
  
"Oh for sad. Is the little Crow in pain?" Elsbeth sauntered over to where Kaoru stood between two of the men in grey cloaks. Each of them held one of her arms because she was not able to stand on her trembling legs at that moment. "You almost make me want to cry with your big blue  
  
dolls eyes and quivering lips, but..." Her cold hand grabbed Kaoru's chin roughly and forced her to meet Elsbeth's shimmering liquid stare. "I just do not seem to have the heart for it." Then she began to laugh, a harsh tinkling sound like broken glass sliding through a metal pipe. "You are so pathetic, little Crow. How ever does Himura stand you and all your stupid emotional stupidity?" She threw Kaoru's chin away brusquely making the girl stumble despite the support of the two men.  
  
"Personally, I find you boring and tedious. It will be a pleasure to watch you die just to know that I will not have to listen to your inane chatter or look at your weepy face anymore." Her slight frame looked even smaller in her own hooded cloak, and Kaoru could see a seven pointed silver star hanging on a long heavy chain around her neck. 'She really is a Witch. Oh God! Kami-sama, help us... Kenshin!'  
  
"Bring her now. The child we will not need until after the ceremony begins, so leave her here where she can enjoy the darkness a little longer." Elsbeth leaned over and smiled evilly into Kuumi's frightened face. "Do not be frightened, Little One. Tonight is a very special night for you. You get to be the one who opens the door and let the most glorious creature in the universe come into our lives. Are you not happy?" She patted the top of the fluffy black head as if she were petting a favored dog.   
  
"I wanna go home." Was the child's tearful response.  
  
"But, koishii, you are home. This is the last home you will ever have."  
  
"I wanna go home to Mamma." The little voice rose in anxiety.  
  
"Oh goodness me. Did I not tell you?" Squatting down in front of the child, Elsbeth cupped her chubby baby face in her hands. "I killed 'Mamma'. So she is not there for you to go home to."  
  
"Whut keel meen?" Huge blue-green eyes looked into Elsbeth's face in fear and confusion.  
  
"I made 'Mamma' dead. Your 'Mamma' is laying on the floor in her own kitchen in a big puddle of her own blood, and she is dead because I cut her throat open and let her bleed until she died."  
  
"STOP IT!" Kaoru had struggled and finally spat out the gag in her mouth. "SHUT YOUR MOUTH YOU SADISTIC BITCH! LEAVE HER ALONE!"   
  
Elsbeth's silvery gaze turned violent as she turned to look at the struggling woman. "You should really learn to watch your mouth, you fucking stupid Crow." She rose slowly with the graceful poise of a noblewoman and walked with carefully measured steps towards Kaoru until she stood in front of her. Their gazes met and locked. Elsbeth glared death into Kaoru's unwavering diamond hard blue eyes. A hand lashed out with a speed that almost defied the ability for human eyes to follow. When it came in contact with the tender flesh of Kaoru's bruised face, her head was snapped viciously to her right. Pain exploded in her eye and she immediately tasted blood in her mouth. The room spun wildly around her head and the edges of her vision blurred and grew dark.   
  
'Please, please do not let me lose consciousness. I have to stay awake. Kami-sama...'   
  
"If you EVER dare raise your voice to me again, you ugly stupid Crow, I will forget about what I had planned for you, and I will hang you upside down and skin you alive while you drown in your own blood." Elsbeth's voice sounded strange to Kaoru, and she struggled to focus her vision on the sneering face in front of her.   
  
As her eyes regained forcus, a short sharp gasp was caught in her throat as she swallowed a scream of shock and horror. Elsbeth was still standing in front of her, but it was not really Elsbeth anymore. It was part Elsbeth and part something else Kaoru could find no name for. She watched in horrified disbelief while the features of the face before her slid and shifted in and out and around themselves rearranging bone structure and muscle plane altering the appearance of the Witch that  
  
was Elsbeth.   
  
A delicate up turned cat-like snout and slanted silver eyes with long elegant eyelashes took shape. Long angled ears covered with downy chestnut colored hair, swept back from the sides of her head ending in fragile points. Her once fine boned hands changed and evolved into long  
  
boney things tipped with hideous pointed claws that more closely resembled eagle talons, and looked just as deadly should she choose to use them the same way.  
  
"What is the matter, little Crow?" A mouth full of razor sharp fangs smiled widely as it grew into the gapping maw of a monsterous bat-like creature. "Are you beginning to understand now just what the fuck you are playing with? Hmmm?" The horrible sound of hollow rasping laughter filled the room, and Kuumi began to scream uncontrollably, as her baby eyes watched a monster being born right in from of her.  
  
"ONI! ONI! ONI!" She screamed over and over. "ONI!" demon!  
  
The thing that was Elsbeth jerked towards the terrified child just as the long silky hair on her head yanked and twisted itself into a rough shaggy mass of thick ropey strings. The horrible smile widened even farther and she skittered over to the hysterical child.  
  
"Boo!" She waved arms, that were too long to be human any longer, in the air and clicked her claws together like a crab. "Boo! Boo! Boo!"   
  
Kuumi's hysterical screams rose to a shrill note of terror beyond anything a child was meant to endure, and the Elsbeth thing laughed and danced around in front of her in glee. "Ha haha ha ha." She cooed. "What fun, what fun. Ha haha ha haa ha." Then the hideous creature danced and bounced its way out of the door singing and laughing all the way.  
  
Kaoru could feel the sting of her own tears streaming down her face as she listened to the cacophony of Kuumi's screams and sobs, and she struggled to find a way to soothe the child before the men took her out. 'God, help me. Please don't cry Baby.'  
  
"Do not cry, Kuumi. Do not cry, Baby. Think about Toon, and Kenshin. Remember our dollies. Think about the dollies, baby. Think about the dollies and everything will be Ok." Then the men were dragging her on wobbling legs past the sobbing little girl.  
  
"KAOWU?!" She cried and tried to stand up reaching for the beloved black-haired woman who had made her feel safe in the dark. "KAOWU?!" She cried again. "Whar you go?"  
  
"I do not know, baby, but you remember the dollies, Ok. You remember the dollies and remember you and I are going to be Friends forever. Can you do that for me? Can you Kuumi?"  
  
"Yesth, but whar you go? You cume bak?" Tear stains shown on her dirty chubby face, and her round blue-green eyes were huge with anxiety and fear.  
  
"I will do my best, koibito. I will do my best." Then Kaoru remembered something else. "Remember what I told you last night, Kuumi. Remember the Tenshi are coming. Wait for the Tenshi, baby. They will come and save us. Then Tenshi are coming to save us." 'And I am going to kill that bloody bitch with my own hands.' With that the men yanked Kaoru from the room and slammed the door closed on the terrified child who immediately began to wail and scream for Kaoru.  
  
"Please do not leave her in the dark. Please." Kaoru's plea's went unacknowledged by the men who dragged her farther and farther away from the screams. "Damn you." She hissed at them. "Damn you all to Hell for what you are doing." Three maniacal faces favored her with demented  
  
grins just before the men burst into crazed laughter.  
  
"We are already prepared to go to Hell, little Missy." Shiny flat black eyes raked her slender form lasciviously. "Our souls are sworn to the service of the Lady Elsbeth and the King of Hell, or have you not realized that already?"   
  
"But you can still save yourselves. Let me go." Her large deep blue eyes pleaded with them to come to their senses and release her. "God will still forgive your sins. You can still come back into the light if you ask for forgiveness. Please, I beg of you, let me go."  
  
"Forgiveness? We do not need forgiveness from a weak God when we have sworn our lives to serve one whose strength and power can be equaled by none other. Save your pretty words for the Angels you say are coming to save you. Maybe they will be willing to listen to them, but all you are doing for us is giving us something to laugh about so save your breath."  
  
'Kenshin... I am trying to be brave... but I am so afraid. I am so afraid, Anata. Kami-sama, calm my troubled heart and help me be strong.'  
  
"You should listen to me," Kaoru somehow found a way to control the fear in her voice, and when she spoke this time, it was calm and steady. "Because of your sins against the innocents, you are all going to die tonight. All of you."  
  
The two men holding her stumbled, but regained their footing after only a few steps. The angry black eyes of the man on her left stared into her calm pale face. "You best watch your tongue, Little Missy, or you will not be having one in your head." He shook her roughly like a dog with a rag doll. "Is not anybody going to be dying under the Moon tonight except that squalling brat, your man, and you. All you can hope for is the Mistress to be merciful and let you die quick, but do not  
  
count on it." His smile was grotesque and showed a row of stained yellow teeth. "I do not think she likes you very much. Ha ha ha ha ha ha." The other men joined him as he laughed at her pale face and frail body. "But you will not last long. Be grateful for that."  
  
Kaoru met their ugly laughing faces with a serene look of absolute certainty. "Perhaps you are right, and perhaps you are not. Be that as it may, death will still find you this night, and none of you will know the comfort of a free soul. You are all doomed to suffer in the burning fires of Jikogu for all Eternity."  
  
Cold chills raced across the warm skin of each man as he felt the finger of fear begin to burrow through the stone walls around his wicked heart and soul, and remind him of his human mortality. Anxious faces looked at each another with deep concern as the first shadow of a doubt  
  
fell across the pathway of their steadfast faith.   
  
"Perhaps.... perhaps we should consider... " One of the men holding her dared voice his doubt in the quietest whisper as his eyes darted wildly around the corridor for any signs of their malevolent Mistress.  
  
"Are you mad?" Another hissed. "Your blood would run in rivers before the Throne and your head would be on a pike before she finished with you. Strengthen your resolve, my Brother. You must not waiver."   
  
"You must stay true to the Mistress or you will die more horribly than you can imagine." The third man warned. "Do not listen to the lies of this bitch. She is dead already. Forget about what she said. It could never happen. The Lady is far too powerful to allow anything like that to happen. Has she not always kept us safe?"  
  
"Yes." The first man sighed and tightened his grip on Kaoru's arm. "Forgive me, my Brothers. It was just a feeling I had."  
  
"A feeling?" The third man looked at him quizically. "What sort of feeling, Armondo?" Armondo had often kept them safe from danger with his feelings, and the others had learned to trust him when he had one.  
  
"I-I am not really certain Joseph. I just had a very bad feeling all of a sudden like something terrible was about to happen."  
  
"When did you have it, Armondo? How long ago?  
  
"When the girl was talking about death coming to find us tonight, and all of us burning forever in Jikogu." His worried gaze met the anxious eyes of the other two men. "But it is gone now so I think it was just a nervous thought. I am sure everything will be all right."  
  
Joseph took one long last look at the man called Armondo and then waved everyone forward. "We should hurry. If we take much longer, The Mistress might come looking for us and none of us want that to happen." Mumbled agreements followed his back as he turned and headed back out of  
  
the corridor.   
  
Death will find you. The words kept bouncing and circling around in Armondo's head as he and the third man, Karl dragged the girl between them. You are all doomed. Your souls will burn in Jikogu forever. A shiver of fear passed through his middle twisting his gut into painful knots. There was no denying his feelings. Something terrible was coming, and it was coming now, even as they walked towards what should have been the grandest night of their lives.  
  
The inner voice of his second sight opened its mouth and spoke to his dark soul. "You will not live to see the light of another sunrise, Armondo de' Estes. There is no escape, your fate is sealed. Death comes for you carried on the backs of the Chosen Ones. The Holy Tenshi comes on the swift unseen feet of God's Justice and you will die screaming as your sinners heart is impaled upon The Sword of Heaven, and then your soul will burn in everlasting agony within the depths of Jikogu."  
  
  
  
Kaoru could feel the mans extreme increase in fear, and wondered what he was thinking. It was very odd to her that a man such as this would have 'feelings' about the future, but it could never be told whom would have the gift and who would not. It was more than obvious by what he had said to the others that the words she had spoken had distressed him greatly.   
  
I wonder what his 'feelings' are telling him NOW? She thought. I hope they have a terrible nightmare to describe to him about what Jikogu looks like, and how much he is going to suffer when he gets there. A sad inner smile crossed the face of her exhausted soul. It was disheartening to know that all three of these men were going to die horribly before the Sun rose the next morning. Why would they not just understand and see that everything Lady Elsbeth was doing was so horribly wrong? What had they been promised that made them willing to do the things they were guilty of for so long? Status, power, riches, invincibility, strength? What was it that was worth so much to them they would willingly sell their souls to Hell to achieve it?  
  
She could see the end of the corridor coming closer, and when they exited it, she was surprised to find herself in the grand Throne Room of the Imperial Palace. Kaoru stared around herself in awe. The Palace had been closed to the public for more than 10 years, but she had never been inside before anyway. She looked at the tall ornately designed walls draped with yards and yards of red and gold silk lined with a dark purple fringe. The floor was made from slab after slab of perfectly polished white marble, and it looked to her eyes like a beautiful field of new snow beneath a red and golden sunrise. Massive white pillars carved to resemble great armored Samurai were geometrically placed throughout the room to hold up the enormous arched ceiling.   
  
Kaoru looked straight up and gasped at the intricate details that had been incorporated into the fashioning of the monstrous ceiling. Brilliant murals of battle scenes and lush gardens covered nearly every inch of the extraordinarily large space, their colors still bright and vibrant as the day they had been placed by the artists brush. She hardly noticed that she was being tied to one of the huge pillars she was so lost in the magnificent beauty of the room, but then she saw something that did capture her attention. It seemed very out of place among the elegantly painted figures and greenery. She struggled to focus on the anomaly and separate it from the rest of it's surrounding even as her mind tried to figure out what it was. It was not part of the murals. It was most definitely something else. It was foreign. It was not supposed to be there. She studied it hard for several long moments tracing its outer edges and inner contours, and then she understood. She knew what it was.  
  
It is a huge hole, a skylight, that has been fashioned into the roof and it is all overgrown with vines of some sort. That is why it looks so strange. The vines distort the shape. It has been there for a very long time, and must have always been part of the ceiling structure but I wonder why it is there? What could it be used for back then? What could it be used for now? Kaoru concentrated on the large opening a little longer and, as an icy cold hand closed around her heart, she realized it was directly over the center of the room. Her eyes darted towards that particular part of the room, and her breath caught in her throat when she saw what was setting there.  
  
A large block of pale white stone had been brought into the Throne Room and placed directly beneath the opening in the roof. It was perhaps five feet long and three feet wide, and stood three and a half feet tall. 'An Altar?! Oh God, no! She is going to do the Sacrifice right here...  
  
right here in this room.' Kaoru looked up at the opening in the ceiling and knew that the Moonlight would come through it and shine directly down on to the white stone. 'The whole ritual is going to be in here... Everything is going to happen in here. The sacrifice, the ritual, opening the doorway... Everything.' Blue eyes filled with alarm flew wide open as a sickening thought occurred to her. 'KENSHIN! He thinks everything is going to happen outside. He does not know.... none of them know... KUSO!' But then she forced herself to calm down and think logically. 'He has to know it is all happening inside. He has to. What he does not know is about the hole in the ceiling. He does not know she has full access to the Moonlight... or to the power it gives her.'  
  
Kaoru's brow wrinkled in deep thought and concern. 'I have to find a way to warn him. How?'   
  
"Well, do you not look just about good enough to eat." A bubbling cascade of girlish giggles greeted Kaoru from behind one of the other massive pillars. "I did consider that for a bit, you know." Elsbeth rolled around the pillars circular surface until she faced Kaoru. "But it just would not be right for me to be that greedy. I decided to save you for something special, and I will just have to curb my appetite." She had fully returned to her human form, and she was once again the beautiful petite Spaniard Kaoru had grown to identified her as. "It is nearly time, little Crow. Can you feel the excitement in the air? Can you feel the electrical energy of everyone's anticipation as it is building higher and higher?" She twirled around and around making the pale grey cloak billow out like a great bell around her ankles. "It is intoxicating! I feel like I am drunk on the sweetest wine in the Universe. La la lala lala la," She whirled and twirled and sang like a carefree girl at her first Cotillion. "Soon, soon, soon.... " Then she suddenly ran right up to Kaoru and shoved her face so close to the dark haired woman's, their breaths intermingled and became one.  
  
"Do you know what is going to happen, little Crow? Do you know who is coming tonight? Do you know who is going to come tonight and set in that very Throne? That Throne of the ancient royal Emperor's?" Small hands that harbored an immense amount of strength grabbed Kaoru by the  
  
shoulders and dug sharp pointed nails into her tender flesh drawing blood. "Do you know, little Crow? Do you? The King of all Kings comes tonight. His glorious presence will walk through the Holy Doorway and he will bask in the magnificence of the light of the Autumn Moon, and then he will make me his Queen and we will rule over Japan together. And soon we will conquer the whole world." Her liquid silver eyes shimmered and shifted looking much like the rolling waves of the immense oceans. 'Reflections in the water.'  
  
'Just like Hiko-san said, the sea knows all things but gives away nothing.' Knowledge must be earned, not given and the sea is a cruel Teacher. Her rolling waves know all the secrets of the world and have witnessed the passing of the Ages, but they will share none of their tales. The water is a mirror reflecting everything from its surface as it deceptively hides its enormous depths. Kaoru looked into the rolling waves of Elsbeth's silvery eyes and saw herself reflected back from their shiny surface.   
  
'I wonder what horrors lie hidden in the far reaches of your twisted sick mind.' Kaoru thought as she tried to judge how far she could push the deranged woman. 'It may not be possible to force the sea to give up its knowledge, but any human being can be manipulated into telling their secrets. You are not the Ocean, Elsbeth.'  
  
"What if your benevolent King changes his mind and chooses another for his Queen? He is the Devil after all, and we all know that the Devil is the King of Lies. How do you know you can believe everything he has told you?" Kaoru watched closely and saw the ever so slight wavering of  
  
Elsbeth's resolve. "Have you never thought that perhaps he is only using you as a means to an end to obtain what he wants and not what he has promised for both of you together?" Black pupils inside of silvery orbs dilated with questioning alarm. "Perhaps he plans to cast you aside once you have succeeded in achieving your goal of an Eternal Doorway for him. If you think about it, he really will not need you after that will he?" She made her voice sound as matter-of-fact and nonchalant as she  
  
could.  
  
"AAAAHHHH! SHUT-UP! SHUT-UP! SHUT YOUR MOUTH YOU STUPID  
  
CROW!" Elsbeth raised her hand to strike Kaoru but then she stopped. The pupils in her eyes were nearly blown wide open, and all but obscured the silvery irises. "You do not know anything, do you hear me. You do not know." The hand dropped and she backed away warily, a wild crazed look on her now pinched face. "He loves me. I am his Aman, and he has promised me I will be his Queen."   
  
"No, the Devil loves no one but himself. Even the smallest child knows this. How can you be so gullible?" Kaoru shook her head in mock sadness. "He has never shared his power with anyone, why should he share it with you? History has always shown the Devil to be selfish and all self-serving to a fault. Surely you can see the truth in this or are you so corrupted with his evil you have lost the ability to see the flaws in his nature?"  
  
"STOP IT!" Elsbeth screamed in a tormented voice and grabbed her head in both hands as if it had suddenly been seized by a terrible pain. "STOP IT! I will not listen to any more of your jealous lies!" When she looked back at Kaoru, there were tears sliding down her flushed cheeks. "I will not listen to you speak about my Saiai Meito in that manner. He loves me, and I love him and I believe everything that he has promised me will happen will happen." Then for the first time since Kaoru had come into contact with the strange woman, it was she who turned and fled the room her composure completely shattered.  
  
'So, she is not immune to wounds of the heart. Interesting. And now she has doubts about her 'Beloved Mate's' intentions. Thanks to me. Perfect.' Kaoru allowed a tiny smile of victory to tug at the corner of her mouth. 'Touche'.'   
  
Time 10:37 pm. 


	18. The Chosen Ones

Glossary: Koishii=dear/darling, Otousan=Father, Mou=Already/Too soon, Tasukette=Help!, Aisoku=beloved son, Sochi=son(Hiko for Kenshin), Shicuchi=Soujirou's unique speed, Akachan=baby, Shin-yuu=friend, Chichioya=Father(Kenshin for Hiko), Isshi=child, Saiai-beloved, Kirei=Beautiful, Esu=Save our Souls, JOdan=Joke, Meito=mate, Baka=fool,   
  
***Attacks***  
  
Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Kan San Isimuji=Whirling Dragon Twister/Twisting attack.  
  
Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Tsui San=Dragon Hammer Kenshin's Favorit  
  
  
  
Chapter 18   
  
  
  
The Chosen Ones   
  
  
  
Part One   
  
Time 10:48pm : Getting Inside the Palace  
  
It was not difficult to see the road leading up to the tremendous gate that was the only way through the ten feet tall brick walls that completely surrounded the Imperial Palace. The light from the enormous full Moon shone brightly against the pale yellow soil turning it to a subtle golden color in the semidarkness making the rarely used avenue easy to traverse. The silhouette of the Palace itself stood out starkly against the horizon like a great black monolith baring down upon the city  
  
from the Heaven's giving the impression of a massive predator waiting for any unwary prey that happened to cross its path.   
  
Nearly a dozen separate spirits entities floated and rushed along the waves of the cold night breezes each filled with a multitude of different emotions, needs, desires, and prayers. Anticipation. Passion. Terror. Doubt. Fear. Awe. Confusion. Distress. Mistrust. Faith. Love. Determination. Resolve. Courage. Honor. Trust. But most of all the air seemed to vibrate with the power of one singular thought and it was what reached out and first touched the five men approaching the Palace Gate.  
  
Hope.  
  
The incredible feeling of Hope reached out with open arms and embraced the The Chosen Five enveloping them within its strength and purpose, and gave to them a final boost of spirit energy that sang through their veins with the purity and determination capable of only one person.  
  
Kaoru! The feeling of her insurmountable strength of will was unmistakable. Only she was capable of such a clear and unconditional spiritual energy like this one. She was the most stubborn, thick headed, willful, and independent woman any of these men had ever met, and she possessed the fiercest Iyoku any had ever encountered.   
  
Strong willed Women. Hiko remembered that particular conversation he had with Kenshin about the fierceness of a strong woman's will, and all of the things Kenshin had said to him about it.  
  
"A strong woman is a gift to her husband not a burden. She is his life why not his equal as well? Why would any man want to break the will and spirit of such a woman? Such a thing would be a wonder to behold. He should get on his knees everyday and thank Kami-sama for allowing him to call her his Wife." He could also remember talking to Kaoru the day they left Tokyo for Kyoto to find Kenshin and what he had told her.   
  
"Have faith and keep your resolve. We will need your strength and will to keep us focused on our goal, and Kenshin will need your strength to give him strength. Do not lose your path to despair." Such innocently spoken words that were meant only to bring her comfort and to give her an anchor to hang onto in her raging sea of turmoil. Little had he known just how true those words would turn out to be.  
  
The men were stopped and standing in front of the massive outer gate that lead into the courtyard of the Palace, Kenshin took note that the big padlock had been recently broken and the heavy chain lay uselessly along the ground. 'I was right. The guards are already dead. She is  
  
already here making her preparations. Kaoru, I am here, koishii. Can you feel me? Feel me, Beloved, I am coming for you. Do not lose your faith in me. I am coming.'   
  
"Can you feel that, Otousan?" Soujirou stepped up next to Kenshin who was casting an earnest gaze into the midnight blue sky. "It is Karou-dono, isn't it? It is her spirit ki reaching out to us." His voice was hushed and filled with awe and amazement despite the out-of-place smile on his face.  
  
"Yes, I can feel it. She knows we are coming; somehow, she always knows." Kenshin met the still-glowing azure eyes of his son. "She is waiting for us... for me."  
  
"We cannot fail."  
  
"We must not fail." Hiko stepped up to stand on the other side of Soujirou.  
  
"We will not fail." Aoshi appeared on Kenshin's left.  
  
"Tonight, we fight as Brothers in the name of Heaven's Holy Justice and I do not believe God will allow us fail." Saitoh rested his hand on Aoshi's shoulder calmly.  
  
"Then we are united in this?" Kenshin walked several steps ahead of the others and turned around to face them. "You have all released me from the responsibility of your lives, but that does not release me from my position as the Commander of this Battle Group or the responsibilities it requires of me. Is that understood?" His eyes began to glow a deep amber that quickly evolved into a brilliant flaming gold that cast it's light outward to engulf the four men he faced. "I will still fight for your lives just as I would in any other battle. I will not risk any of you as bait or a diversion in any case. I want that to be perfectly clear before we go any farther. No one will be offered or lost as a sacrifice so that the rest of us may survive. We will all go in together, and we will all come out together... unless someone loses his life in the heat of battle. That is the only death I will accept... if  
  
acceptance is what I would be feeling. I do not want to carry the memory of any of your deaths with me, nor do I want to die. We all have much to live for so let us take care with our lives and with each others." His head dropped until his chin nearly touched his chest and he drew a deep  
  
shuddering breath as his left hand grasped the hilt of his katana. "I pray that Kami-sama will give us the courage we need to face the task ahead and guide our footsteps and our swords this night that we may strike true and see Heaven's Holy Justice done. And let us bring into the light of Freedom those with innocent blood and those whom we love before harm is laid to their flesh."  
  
A moment of silence passed between the five warriors then Kenshin raised his head and let his burning golden gaze encompass those he would call his family.  
  
"Come, time will not wait for us much longer. The Moon continues her climb towards the center of the sky, and the hour draws near. We have much to do." He turned and walked through the open gate closely followed by the other four.  
  
Time: 11:00pm  
  
A tingling warmth crawled along Kaoru's skin beginning at her fingertips and toes and traveling the full length of her body until she was suffused with the sensation. Closing her weary eyes, she allowed herself to bask in the feelings of love and promise that circled around and within her. The energy signature was unmistakably Kenshin's and she snuggled into the comfort and happiness it represented to her. He is here. Her heart was singing with pure joy and elation as she sent her own feelings of love and hope back along the elemental bond he had established with her heart. 'I am here, My Love. I am here, and I have Faith in you. Take care with your life.'   
  
  
  
It was taking a little more time than any of them had counted on to find a pathway through the horribly overgrown garden surrounding the Palace, but they were nearing the main doors at last. Saitoh was the first to reach the sweeping arches and he began testing the doors to see if they would open. To his surprise, they swung open with little effort on his part. 'She knows we are coming and left the door open. Arrogant Bitch! Why didn't she leave a light on too so we could at least see  
  
where the fuck we are going?'   
  
"Doors already open? Interesting." Hiko stepped up next to Saitoh and peered inside. "Sure is dark in there. Would have been nice if the Bitch would have left us a few torches to help out, don't you think?"   
  
Saitoh chuckled and slapped Hiko on the back. "That is why I like you, Hiko. Great minds think alike. I was just thinking the exact same thing. She obviously knows we are coming so it would have been the polite thing to do."  
  
"Oh I definitely agree. This Witch has none of the finer manners of decent society people at all. She needs to be educated. Do you not think?"  
  
"Absolutely. Should we be the ones to educate Her Fucking Foulness?"  
  
"Absolutely." They shared a wicked smile between them then turned to acknowledged the others as they approached behind. "Took you long enough. What's the matter, get lost in the dark?" Hiko's usual biting tone should have raised Kenshin's hackles especially at a time like this,  
  
but it did not. Instead Kenshin simply lifted one elegant brown eyebrow in a show of mocking dismissal and walked to the door. 'Now you are learning.' Hiko smiled to himself.  
  
"Anybody know their way around in here? I was only in here twice and that was years ago."  
  
"I do." Aoshi stepped forward. "I spent many weeks here after the Shogunate declared the Palace the official meeting place for all the Samurai and Daymios. I think I can remember my way around."  
  
"In the dark?" Saitoh sounded skeptical.  
  
"Yes, Saitoh-san. You forget Ninja are more adept working in the dark than daylight."  
  
"Ahhh, I had forgotten that. Forgive me, My Lord Ninja, do lead on." Everyone suppressed a chuckle at Saitoh's audacity, but Aoshi seemed nonplused by the Samurai's mocking tone. Instead he allowed a tiny hint of a smile to touch the corner of his mouth.   
  
"Thank-you My Lord Wolf. I consider it a privilege to be allowed to lead one such as yourself considering all of your long years of accomplished leadership and obvious talents at prowling the darkness." Touche' Aoshi.  
  
Saitoh stared at Aoshi in pure shock as if he were completely unable to believe what he had just heard. "Bloody Hell!" He swore. "Did you hear that?" He gestured wildly at the tall Ninja. "If I am not mistaken, the talking statue just insulted me... and enjoyed it." There was profound silence in the small group because no one was certain how Saitoh was reacting to Aoshi's blatant mockery of him. "This is the fucking funniest thing I have ever seen or heard in my life." He began  
  
to laugh and wrapped an arm around Aoshi's slim shoulders. "There may be hope for you yet, Shinemori. I was beginning to think there was nothing but a dead Monk's brain inside your body, but you might actually be alive in there somewhere." A collective sigh of relief was heard around the circle of men, and Kenshin and Hiko exchanged a rare look of understanding.  
  
"All right, so Aoshi is alive, and you think its funny. Fine, get your skinny ass out of the way so he can tell us where we need to go to get to wherever it is we have to go." Hiko gave Saitoh a hefty shove along with a huge smile that told him "you really are a piece of work" and they all followed single file through the door after Aoshi.  
  
Time: 11:23pm  
  
Part Two  
  
Time11:43pm. "Bring the Child, The Time is At Hand"  
  
Time had passed swiftly on the silent feet of a thousand ghosts from the past for Kaoru as she waited tied to the massive stone pillar. It seemed only moments since the men had dragged her inside the throne room and tied her here, but she knew nearly an hour had to have passed. It must be getting close to Midnight. She thought anxiously to herself as she tried desperately to see up and out of the large sky-light in the ceiling. There was a definite faint glowing of white light beginning to show around the edges of the huge opening, and Kaoru could feel the hands of fear starting to grip her heart despite the knowledge that Kenshin was close by. "Mou, mou...." she whispered out loud. "It is all happening too soon. I am not ready. I do not know if I can do this." 'Kenshin! Tasukete! Help me! I am afraid.... Kenshin!'  
  
The light was becoming stronger and stronger as the room grew brighter by the moment. The few torches that burned were barely enough light to make it safe to walk around and not tumble over scattered debris and furniture, but the light from the Moon coming in through the huge sky-light added its illumination to the poor torchlight, and the room began to grow brighter as the white walls and white marble floor reflected the dazzling bright light outward against the Moon itself.  
  
Soon it will be as bright as daylight in here. Kaoru thought as she watched The Throne Room being transformed into a glittering stage of brilliant golds, reds, purples, and greens. It almost had the feeling of being outside in a vast clearing of pure snow laying silent beneath a deep, midnight blue sky. "Dearest Kami," Kaoru's voice shook in wonder and fear at the same time as she watched the edge of the Moon emerge through the vines lining the sky-light. "We are outside after all. Kami-sama, Help...."  
  
"It is beautiful... yes?"  
  
Kaoru's head snapped to her right and she could see Elsbeth standing several feet away from her. Keeping your distance now are you?' She smiled inwardly. 'Good. I like it that way.'  
  
"I have always loved the Moon. I believe She is more our Mother that the Earth ever was." Her small feet made no sound as she walked towards the white stone Altar block. "The Earth is weak, and nurtures an inferior race." Her head whipped around violently and she faced Kaoru  
  
defiantly. "All mankind is weak. Men are weak. They are simple minded and can be manipulated easily with the lasciviousness of carnal pleasures in to doing anything that is asked of them. They are stupid animals worth no more than a mangy dog and as easily replaced." A frail looking white hand ran over the smooth surface of the stone as she glided passed one side and stopped at the top. "I have found uses for several of them, but eventually they can all be replaced by someone else. No one is irreplaceable, little Crow. No one." Grey-green eyes locked gazes with Kaoru's diamond blue eyes. "Not even Himura. I loved him once you know. Truly I did." She watched as a look of disbelief crossed Kaoru's face. "You do not believe me? What? You do not think I am capable of  
  
loving anyone? Well, you are wrong. I did love him." She circled the Altar once again. "And he loved me more than anything. He would have died for me. He would have given up everything for me, everything. But I left him because he was still just a man, and he was weak. He never  
  
understood my need to be something greater than I was. He never understood anything, but everything will change tonight." She leaned back and stared upwards into the rising full moon. "Tonight HE will understand everything, and he will become a part of something greater than all of us."  
  
"You are wrong." Kaoru kept her voice as steady and calm as she could. "Kenshin will not allow any of this to happen. He will stop you."  
  
"Do not be a fool, little Crow. Do you not understand anything yet?" Elsbeth waved her hands in the air showing her frustration at Kaoru's continued obstinance. "He cannot stop me. I have the upper hand and all the power. What does he have? Tell me? What does he have?"  
  
"Faith. Hope. Determination. Honor. And the soul of a true Warrior who will not be so easily beaten or dismissed as you think. Kenshin was the Battousai for a long time. He knows all about death and evil, but he also knows the pain and courage it takes to come back into the light and the incredible strength that is the reward for the tremendous toil. I would not take him so lightly if I were you. He is not so weak as you seem to think he is. He will stop you."  
  
"NO!" Elsbeth screamed the word at the top of her lungs and lunged at Kaoru at incredible speed. A knife blade flashed before startled blue eyes in a split instant, and then there was a sharp burning pain in her side.  
  
"NNNYYAAA!" Kaoru could not stifle the cry that tore itself from her mouth as the blade punctured the flesh of her lower abdomen. Her horrified blue gaze locked and held Elsbeth's giddy silver one for only a moment, and then Elsbeth was leaping away pulling the dagger roughly out of the wound. Kaoru looked down at herself and saw blood seeping through the lower left side of her lavender yutaka. 'She's stabbed me.' The thought rushed through her head. 'She actually stabbed me. Kami....' She watched in confusion as Elsbeth ran swiftly over to the Altar and carefully held the dagger tip down letting the fresh blood drip off making a small round puddle at the head of the surface of the white stone.  
  
"The blood of two," Her eyes gleamed with demented excitement. "Mixed with "The Blood of the Innocent" will be very strong. Very strong indeed."  
  
"The blood of two?" Kaoru was confused.  
  
"You and your baby, stupid Crow-girl. Do you not know anything, even about yourself?"  
  
Kaoru could feel her cheeks growing warm as the implication of Elsbeth's words sank in. 'The dream... the baby.... Kenji?? Kenshin's son? Our son? It was REAL? I am pregnant with Kenshin's akachan?' Then her befuddled brain registered something else.   
  
'She is using the blood of the baby, she has the baby's blood on the Altar already. What is that going to do? What will happen with it already there? It is already there!' Kaoru started to get a very bad feeling about that. Babies were the most innocent beings in creation, and even if Kenji's blood was mixed with hers, it was still his blood and it was on the Altar. 'Kami-sama... Kenshin... HURRY!!!!'  
  
"Ha haha! So you finally understand, at last. You stupid girl. Even I could sense both spirits inside you without expending hardly an ounce of energy. At first when I took you from your room it was only with intention of luring Himura out into the open, but imagine my joyful surprise when I discovered the amazing little treasure you were carrying inside of you. Can you not even read your own body you stupid crow?" A tinkling mocking laugh danced and ricocheted off the walls until it was careening through out the entire room. "I wonder if that fool Himura even knows yet. How surprised he will be when he finds out. Too bad neither of you will be around to see the little maggot come screaming into this world." Then she got a very odd look on her face as if the most strange thing had just occurred to her. "I guess the little maggot will not get to be around for that either." And she dissolved into squealing peals of hysterical laughter that nearly doubled her over as  
  
she stumbled away from the Altar.   
  
It took Elsbeth several long moments to regain her composure, but once she did she cast a glance of pure amusement at Kaoru's stony face then turned towards the back of the room where she shouted in a laughter filled voice. "Bring me the Child. The Moon has almost reached the center of the sky-light." She pulled the grey hood of her cloak up to cover her head and conceal her features. "The Hour of My Lord is almost at Hand."  
  
"Did you hear that?" Hiko turned and motioned off to his right. "It sounded like laughter... maybe. Did anyone else hear it?"  
  
"I did." Aoshi's long legs carried him into the darkness and he disappeared for a few moments. When he returned, he was pale and more stone faced that usual. "Follow me this way." He turned back the way he had just been. "Our quarry lies in this direction, as well as that which we must save. Come quickly" A tone of urgence colored his usually expressionless voice. "We are running out of time, and from what I saw there is precious little left for us to work with."   
  
Kenshin felt as if Aoshi had thrown a bucket of icy cold water in his face. "What did you see? Aoshi?" He ran to catch up with the long- legged Ninja. "What did you see? Tell me."  
  
"It is better if you do not know right now, Himura. Trust me. Please."   
  
"Aoshi....?" Kenshin's voice filled with alarm. "Kaoru??" 'God, no!'  
  
"She is alive. I saw her, but we need to hurry. Come, my Brother. Hurry." 'Run Kenshin!'  
  
They ran through the darkness until Aoshi made a sharp right turn and brought them up short against a partially opened doorway. Ever so carefully and quietly he eased himself through the space between the two doors and entered the room beyond without making a single noise. Each man followed suit behind him until they were all inside and standing together.  
  
They were at the end of the Throne Room as faraway from the Throne and the Altar as was possible, but the entire room was still fully visible to them and it was not difficult to find Kaou. She was tied securely to one of the huge Samurai pillars that supported the ceiling. Her head was up, but it was obvious to them that she was having difficulties keeping it that way. The room was no longer filled with the power of her hope and strength of will, but now resonated with her confusion and extreme anxiety. And she was getting weaker. Something was sapping her physical strength and she was growing weaker by the minute.  
  
Kenshin struggled to make some sort of contact with her so she would know he was very close, but she was so weakened and tired he could not find her. 'What is wrong, koishii? What has happened to you? Why are you so frail all of a sudden?' He was worried. Something was very  
  
wrong with Kaoru, but he was unsure what.  
  
"We have to get closer," He indicated to his small combat group the need to move to a more strategic point of observation. A sharp tug on the sleeve of his gi pulled his attention to Saitoh who gestured with his other hand to a place about 75 feet away where several rotted pieces of wall furniture lay stacked on top of and around each other. The area should provide a reasonable amount of cover and protection for them as well as conceal them from view. Kenshin nodded in agreement and motioned for everyone to follow him.   
  
Upon reaching the destination of the pile of rotted shelving, each man found himself a comfortable place to kneel and settled into it to wait for further instructions. Kenshin and Hiko knelt next to one another and both were watching the scene before them with the sharp eyes of the Hiten Mitsurugi.   
  
It was clear to see now why Kaoru was struggling to maintain her levity. Blood was soaking her yutaka on the lower left side of her stomach. Elsbeth was clutching the long narrow-bladed dagger she seemed to be so fond of and it was easy to see the tip of it was still stained with Kaoru's blood. Aoshi must have seen Elsbeth stab her. Kenshin thought as a cold shudder of fear seized him. 'Kami... she is bleeding so much. Oh God, no. Help me! KAORU!!'   
  
Hiko felt the fear and concern spike within his son, and knew what Kenshin was thinking. "Calm yoursef, Kenshin." He placed a strong comforting hand on the younger mans shoulder and squeezed it. "It does not look like a life threatening wound. It was only made deep enough to make her bleed not kill her."  
  
"But... if she did not want to kill Kaoru, why make her bleed?" Kenshin looked into Hiko's shimmering yellowish-green eyes. "Why does she need or want Kaoru's blood?"  
  
Hiko had the grace to look just as confused as his son as he turned his gaze back to the two women facing off against each other. "Why indeed? What is in Kaoru's blood that Bitch would want or need that she would only wound her? I see no sense in it."  
  
"Did you say 'in her blood'?" Kenshin's voice bore the tone of a man who was standing on a cliff staring his own imminent death in the face. Suddenly it was all perfectly clear, and as he reached out and tried to touch the spirit of his beloved, The White Warrior felt the unmistakable terror that was not only Kaoru, but something else.  
  
"Yes. What has that got to do with anything?" Hiko looked at Kenshin's profile in puzzled irritation. "What the hell are you getting at?"  
  
"It is not Kaoru she wants. Maybe it never was." Kenshin closed his eyes and cursed under his breath as his hands closed around the hilt of his sheathed katana. "And it is not even her blood she is after." 'Damn her soul to everlasting hell!'  
  
"Kenshin?" Hiko stared at his son's withering face and felt a strange decline in the strength of his ki. "Kenshin, what is the matter with you? What the hell are you babbling about? Talk to me, dammit! What the fuck is the matter with you?" He reached out and grabbed the shoulder of the white gi Kenshin wore and yanked it up forcing the red-haired man to meet his eyes, but Hiko was not prepared for what he saw when he looked into those eyes.  
  
He caught his breath, swallowed hard, and blinked several times in shock.  
  
He dropped the handful of gi he held.  
  
He backed away a few inches inadvertently bumping into Aoshi who looked over to see what was going on. Aoshi backed up as well his cold ninja persona shaken.  
  
Saitoh and Soujirou noticed Aoshi's odd behavior, but as soon as they saw what he was looking at, they did not make a single movement. The four shocked and somewhat shaken men huddled closely to one another for support because none of them were able to believe or understand  
  
what they were seeing.  
  
It was true, Kenshin still knelt before them, but what had once been Kenshin was now something else. It wore Kenshin's face and controlled his body, but was it 'Kenshin' that looked at them from the depths of 'those' eyes? They had all watched Kenshin's eyes change to the boiling  
  
flaming gold that had thrown its own light around them like a burning shield, and they had accepted it, but this phenomenon was much different.  
  
The eyes they looked into now did not glow, they did not burn, they did not even look human. The full rounded eyes of what could only be described as a Tiger looked at them from Kenshin's face. Huge golden irises filled the entire eyeball allowing no white to show at all, and the strange black oval of the pupil adjusted itself eerily each time he blinked.   
  
The Spirit of The Tiger. The physical manifestation of Kenshin's spirit-ki sat before them calmly in control of Kenshin's body and mind.  
  
A Tiger. That is what Hiko had called him when he was a child and had fiercly refused to be dominated despite his gentle nature, and for the strength of his will and determination to learn and excell. 'It appears I was right.' He thought to himself as he felt a strange rush of  
  
fear and exaltation at the sight before his stunned eyes. 'What a magnificent ki. No wonder it burns so fiercely and with such a hellacious heat.' He managed a shaky smile in the face of this terrifying wonder. 'Look at you, my glorious son. Look at what you have become. What a Magnificent Warrior you have become. I am proud of you.'  
  
"You all know what to do." Kenshin's voice had changed. It now held a strange deep throaty quality that teetered on the edge of a growling sound. A collective shiver ran through the Battle Group. "You have my full confidence and my thanks. You are my friends and my family.   
  
Do not risk your lives unnecessarily and do not tarry long with your tasks. Finish what must be done, and get out of this place." The Kenshin-spirit turned away and looked into the Throne Room and spoke quietly one more time. "Elsbeth will die by my hand and my hand only. None of you have the strength to face her and live. This is my task and you must not try to help me in it. She has stolen something of great value from my Beloved and I, as well as the souls of hundreds of  
  
innocents. Tonight she will meet and suffer Heaven's Holy Justice... but at my hand. Do not get in my way or you will die." Each man felt an icy finger of the purest fear stab his heart at those words.  
  
"What has she taken from you, Sochi? I do not understand. She has taken your Beloved. She has Kaoru, but you said she has stolen from you both. What has she taken?" Hiko had never felt so confused nor had he ever felt fear like THIS.   
  
"She has stolen the blood of my son and spilt it upon her Altar of Blasphemy, and I will have Justice for that insult as well as the multitude of her other sins."  
  
"Your... your son?" Every man in the group was shocked into silence as they stared at the Kenshin-spirit. "What are you talking about Kenshin? Are you saying..."  
  
"Kaoru is pregnant with my son and Elsbeth has stolen his blood from her womb, and for that crime against me and mine she will die. I promise you. She will die." Even as he spoke, the Kenshin-spirit could feel a thin screaming presance that was reaching out to be protected... to be saved.  
  
Kenshin's comrades looked at one another in silence. Kaoru pregnant with a son?  
  
"The Blood of The Unborn." Aoshi's voice was hardly louder than a breath as he spoke those terrible words. "The purest blood in the Universe. Even purer than 'The Blood of The Innocent". The Woman is manically insane. Kami help us."  
  
  
  
Suddenly the mood was broken by the terrified screaming of a small child. The five men watched in horrified anger as a thrashing white bundle was carried into the room by a tall man dressed in a long grey cloak and dropped carelessly onto the large Altar stone. Then they were  
  
forced to watch as a gleeful Elsbeth chained the hysterical child hand and foot to the stone while she explained to her how she was going to cut her open and tear her heart out and feed it to the Devil.  
  
"STOP IT! STOP IT!" Despite her own condition Kaoru was screaming at the sadistic cruelty Elsbeth was inflicting on the child simply for her own pleasure. "LEAVE HER ALONE YOU FILTHY COW! SHUT UP! SHUT UP AND LEAVE HER ALONE, DAMN YOU!" Elsbeth just laughed as she placed a sweet kiss on the sweat damp forehead.   
  
"Time is up, little Crow." She cooed as she lifted the long thin dagger into her hand and took her place at the side of the Altar. The three men standing nearby took their places on the other side each raising the hood on his cloak. Elsbeth closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and then as she let it out, began chanting in a low voice the strange words Kenshin had heard once before in a faraway place high on a mountainside in the dead of night when a little girl had died screaming in agony as her soul was offered to the King of Hell.  
  
"ACUMA! ACUMA! ACUMA! KING OF ALL THAT IS UNHOLY! KING AND  
  
LORD OF HELL! HEAR ME, MY BELOVED. HEAR THE VOICE OF YOUR MEITO AND  
  
ACCEPT MY OFFERING OF THIS INNOCENT OF BLOOD.   
  
"It has begun. Prepare yourselves." The Kenshin-spirit sat crouched like the Tiger he was as he made ready to spring at any moment, if the situation called for his presance. "Soujirou, you are first, Aisoku. You must save the child before the blade pierces her flesh."  
  
"I will, Otousan. I promise you I will save her... That I will."  
  
"I OFFER TO YOU THE GREATEST GIFTS THAT I HAVE TO GIVE ON THIS NIGHT! I GIVE TO YOU THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT AND THE BLOOD OF THE UNBORN THAT YOU MIGHT KNOW MY PLEDGE OF LOVE AND SERVITUDE IS COMPLETE!   
  
"Then watch and wait, Aisoku. Watch and fly on the swift Wings of Heaven's Angels and bring her out of the pit of Hell and back into the safety of the Light."  
  
"I will, Father. I swear to you I will not fail you." And then Soujirou's azure eyes began to shine with the pale blues and golden lights of Heaven as he met the yellow gaze of his fathers spirit-ki. "And I will not fail her."  
  
"Then, my radiant son, for all that is good and true in this world...YOU MUST FLY SOUJIROU! FLY NOW!!"  
  
"I BESEECH THEE, COME TO ME AND LET ME JOIN WITH THEE ON THIS MOST  
  
MAGICAL OF ALL NIGHTS OF THE YEAR. COME TO ME, BELOVED. COME TO ME!   
  
COME TO ME! COME TO ME!" The final words of the spell that would open the door between Hell and Earth rose into the chilled night air, and rang through the cavervous room like the sound of a death chime.   
  
The thin bladed dagger arched high into the air above Elsbeth's head with astonishing speed, and then it began a powerful downward thrust toward the trapped child's heart.  
  
Kuumi's wild blue-green eyes followed the gleam of the shining blade and as it sliced through the air towards her, her hysterical shrill screams of terror shattered the coldness in the large room as she struggled ineffectually against the iron manicals that held her bound to the stone.  
  
Elsbeth's swirling liquid silver-gray eyes grew enormous in her small delicate face as she watched the the daggers blade drop in a true line towards the child's heaving chest. For one split instant, her gaze faltered as they slid to a spot just above the childs head where the small round puddle of coagulated blood she had stolen from Kaoru's womb lay on the cold stone, and she felt a rush of intense elation fill her dark soul as her eyes beheld the coming of the moment of her Destiny.  
  
At the same moment, Soujirou leapt into the pale moon-light shining through the great sky-light over head, and as he lunged over the remains of the rotted old shelving, he disappeared from everyones' sight. Not one sound was heard, nor was a single feather of dust disturbed to mark his pathway to the huge stone Altar. It appeared 'The Sword of Heaven' was indeed swooping in undetected on the speed of his powerful angel's wings, because not one trace of his shicuchi's trail could be seen anywhere around the Altar stone, or within the spaces between the surrounding pillars. Soujirou had become completely invisible to the human eye.  
  
  
  
Armondo felt the brush of an icy cold breeze slide passed his face and he knew the end was upon him, and once again he heard the inner voice of his second sight.  
  
"You will die screaming as your black sinners heart is impaled upon 'The Sword of Heaven'."  
  
Fear and acceptance exploded within him together as he felt the burning agony of death pierce through his back and burst through his chest. Looking down at himself, he watched the blood spurting out of his chest in a red fountain that stained the front of his light grey cloak and sprayed across the pure white of the Altar stone. Dumbly he noticed two things before he slumped to the floor. First, there was no weapon protruding from his chest, and second, he could swear there was an Angel with golden hair, brilliant pale blue eyes, and a gleaming sword of purest white light cutting the chains that bound the child and lifting her off the Altar into his glorified arms.   
  
Brilliant glowing azure-blue eyes met the dying flat black eyes of Armondo de' Estes and he blinked once before he died screaming the terrified screams of a doomed soul.   
  
"Jikogu! Tenshi! Tenshi! Tenshi...."  
  
"NOOOOOOOO!" Elsbeth's scream of shocked rage bounced off the walls and the high ceiling as she watched with disbelieving eyes what happened right before her.  
  
One of her men fell screaming and died in a fountain of his own blood as his chest exploded from the inside out. Then in the same breath, the child disappeared from the Altar leaving the chains empty and broken into useless heaps of severed links and manacles. Joseph and Karl whipped around pulling their swords trying to see an enemy or attacker of any kind, but found nothing nor no one but their own dead 'brother'.   
  
Sweat broke out on Joseph's swarthy face as he recalled Armondo's hastily spoken warning that everyone had dismissed earlier. "I have a bad feeling about this, Joseph." And now Armondo lay dead with his chest burst open by an unseen attacker. Then he heard the calmly spoken words of the black-haired woman who stood tied to the very pillar he and Armondo had secured her to.   
  
'Death will find you all this night.'   
  
"It will not find me!" He growled under his breath as he threw the hood off his head. "I am not ready to die yet." Karl stood close to his 'brother' and together the barred the way to the Altar with both their swords and bodies.   
  
"Protect me, you fools!" Elsbeth was screaming behind them her fury completely unleashed. She could not understand what had happened, but she did understand one terrifying thing. The doorway was going to open with or without the child, and it was going to open soon as the seconds  
  
ticked away towards the hour of Heaven's destruction...and her destiny or demise.   
  
'The Blood of The Unborn.'  
  
The power of Himura's unborn son's blood would have the strength to open the doorway easily, but what of the other blood? What of the lost gift? Elsbeth had never met her Beloved without the promised gifts she called to him with. What would HE do? What would happen? What would HE  
  
do to HER?   
  
  
  
Part Three  
  
Midnight: The Doorway to Hell  
  
  
  
Kuumi's little eyes stared at the beautiful Tenshi that lifted her up from the cold Altar stone and held her close to his warm chest. His eyes were the purest palest blue she had ever seen, and they glowed like twin shining moons in his beautiful angel's face. He smiled at her as he wrapped her in a strong and comforting embrace tucking her head beneath his chin.  
  
"You are safe now, Akachan." His voice was like a song in her ears as he pressed a soft feather lite kiss to her sweat damp forehead. "Do not be afraid any longer. You are in the arms of "The Sword of Heaven" and nothing can harm you now." And then the world around her blurred out of focus and became black and peaceful. Kaoru had told her the truth. The Tenshi really had come to save her.   
  
"Save Kaowu...Tenshi." Her tiny voice whispered to her beautiful Tenshi just before she let the comforting arms of the peaceful darkness take her away to a safe and quiet place. "She my fend."  
  
Soujirou landed behind the sanctuary of the rotted shelving without a sound with the little girl held securely in his arms. His abrupt soundless appearance caused more than one of his comrades to jump in surprise, but no one broke the silence of their cover. Kneeling down carefully, he lay his tender burden on the floor and gently brushed the tousled black hair out of her tear streaked sleeping face.  
  
"So small. So tender. So beautiful. So innocent." He looked directly in the Kenshin-spirit's eyes. "She trusted me completely. She called me Tenshi, Otousan. She called me an Angel."  
  
His father's strong loving hand touched the smooth beauty of Soujirou's face. "You are, my Beloved Son. You are an Angel. You are truly 'Heaven's Holy Sword'. Then he turned to the rest of the battle group. "It is not over yet. The Blood of The Unborn stains the Altar and the words have been spoken."  
  
"Yes, but the sacrifice was not made." Hiko looked at the being that was his own son and spoke the question they were all thinking. "Does that not mean the doorway cannot open?"  
  
"No. The thwarting of the sacrifice means nothing with my unborn son's blood still spilt on the Altar as sacrifice. Because he is MY son, and Kaoru's son he is undoubtedly very gifted with a powerful ki or else Elsbeth would have never stolen his blood to begin with. His blood will open the doorway when the hour strikes and the Moon reaches its center apex at Midnight. We must all be prepared for this is a battle I had hoped to avoid."  
  
"What battle, Battousai? Are you inferring we are going to battle the Devil himself?" Saitoh's usual sarcastic tone was lacking its customary bite, and his wolfish features were showing signs of strain.  
  
The Kenshin-spirit locked gazes with the Mibu Wolf and held the dark yellow-gold eyes for a long moment. "Yes. That is what I am saying, Saitoh shin-yuu." He watched as the Wolf paled beneath his tan. "I have seen him before and it nearly destroyed me completely."  
  
"That is what you saw?!" The agony in Hiko's voice was a tangible thing as his eyes flared to a deep yellow-green. "You never told us what you saw except the ritual. You never once said..."  
  
"I know. How could I? I could not face it myself." The gentle warmth and love of Kenshin's spirit eyes turned to rest on his father's face. "I hardly had the courage to admit I had seen the face of Hell and lived, let alone retained my sanity because I did not know how I had done  
  
either one." The handsome face smiled in tender memory. "I do now. I went screaming like a terrified Isshi to my Chichioya and begged him to hide me, help me, comfort me, and save me. And you did."  
  
"I did nothing that night but collapse on the ground underneath the assault of your terror, Kenshin. I could not even reach out to you to help you, because I did not realize it was you until you were gone. How can you say I helped you when I did nothing?"  
  
"But you did. You did not push me away. You bore my terror upon your shoulders and your soul and soaked it away from me like a sponge soaks up a puddle of water. I fainted before my mind exploded into total madness because you pulled all of the emotion away from me into yourself  
  
and left me empty and too exhausted to remain conscious. You saved my mind, Father. You saved me when I did not have the strength the save myself because deep within you existed the bond you had denied me my whole life, but when I needed you, you were there." The Kenshin-spirit cocked Kenshin's head and offered Hiko a brilliant smile. "All my life I prayed for your love. Every night before I went to sleep, I would pray that in the morning I would wake up and you would love me. How ironic it is for me to find out a lifetime later that you loved me all along, and would have given yourself for me at anytime when I grew up believing you held nothing but disdain for me." A small laugh escaped Kenshin's slight frame. "What I would have given to know that a lifetime ago. Life  
  
answers our questions in strange ways. When I was wondering all of those years, I often asked God why I was here. Why did I walk this Earth. What purpose did my life serve, and of what use could such a stained soul as mine be to anyone." He drew a wistful sigh. "Then I found Kaoru, Yahiko, and the dojo and I suddenly seemed to have a reason to find a way out of my self-imposed exile. But I have come to realize since then that they are not my purpose." He locked gazes with Hiko. "They are my reward and my Destiny should I fulfill my purpose."  
  
"Kenshin." Hiko closed his eyes and a tear slid down his angular face. "You have always taken too much upon your own shoulders. Why do you always look to yourself as the only sacrifice to be made? Why do you perceive yourself as always making amends for your past? You have paid  
  
your penance for Tomoe AND for the Battousai's sins. When will it be enough for you? When will you stop punishing yourself and move on? When will you allow yourself to be happy? When?"  
  
"This is not about atonement, Chichioya. This is about Destiny. This is about why God put me here, and why my pathway led me to you and the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, and through the Bakumatsu, and into the worlds of Shishio and Enishii."  
  
"I do not understand. What Destiny do you mean? How can this be your Destiny?"  
  
"One must be baptized by Fire before one can fight Fire."  
  
"What?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nani?"  
  
"What?" Every member of Kenshin's small battle group was dumbfounded by his answer.  
  
"Is there anyone else who has a ki strong enough to do battle with The Devil's Witch or with The Devil himself besides ME? Does anyone possess the necessary 'heat' and source of destructive fury like The Battousai which I can unleash to wreck death and havoc when I wish? I have already proven the massive power my ki possesses now that it has been restored with pieces of each of yours to augment it. I am not the man I once was." He slowly stood up and rested his left hand on the hilt  
  
of his long sword. "I am something else. What? Even I am not completely sure, but this I do know. I have been made for this night. For this moment. For this purpose, and I will go into this battle  
  
without my sakobatou. Tonight my oath never to kill again is forgotten, because what I mean to destroy is not of this world nor was it ever meant to be here."  
  
"Himura-san, my brother." The caution and distress in Aoshi's voice were clear. "You cannot kill the Devil. He is not Flesh and Blood, shin-yuu. What you are saying is impossible."  
  
"I do not intend to kill Acuma. As you say, He is not Flesh and Blood, but his Destroying Angel is." His right hand reached across his body and unlocked the blade by twisting it a quarter turn. "She has sold her life and soul to Hell, and she harbors powers of enormous magnitude within her body including the ability to alter her form into the Demon-Queen he has made her. But, Elsbeth is still innately human and there is a human heart beating in her chest. If she dies before the rituals are complete, the power that keeps the doorway open will die with her."  
  
"You are talking about a life and death race, Otousan."  
  
"A race? What are you talking about Soujirou?" Saitoh looked at the Tenken in complete confusion. "We are already in the middle of a life and death race."  
  
"Yes, but Otousan is talking about a race between himself and the Witch. A race to see who can kill whom first."  
  
"Bloody hell." Saitoh cursed under his breath. "I am really starting to think you are insane Battousai. If you kill her, the doorway closes and locks Mr. King in Hell where he belongs, but if she kills you, all bets are off and the whole world goes to Hell. No joke intended." He spit ungraciously on the floor. "Perfect."  
  
The Kenshin-spirit smiled indulgently and cast a measured glance over Kenshin's shoulder evaluating the activity by the Altar. "Have a little Faith, My shin-yuu Wolf." And he winked at the gapping open-mouthed policeman. "I am not dead yet." Then he laughed and was suddenly gone from their sight as he disappeared before their eyes.  
  
"Where...?" Aoshi stood and looked around very slowly and intently, but found not one trace of the Kenshin-spirit. As all four men searched the Throne Room, the red-haired man did not reappear. "I do not understand. Where did he go, and why has he not reappeared? Hiko-san?"  
  
"I do not know." His eyes continued to grow in their blazing yellow color, giving him an otherworldly appearance. Aoshi was experiencing the same phenomenon as his bright jade eyes had begun to evolve into brilliant orbs of glittering green. Only Saitoh's yellow-gold eyes were not effected by the magical powers permeating the room. Instead it appeared that his body was shifting slightly and taking on more muscle through the shoulders and neck. This made him look a little hunched over, but also exceedingly threatening. Something else was happening to him as well, but it did not register on him until he tasted blood in his mouth.  
  
"What the...?" When he wiped the back of his hand across his lip's, it came away bloody. His brows furrowed in confusion and he put a finger into his mouth to explore for the wound.  
  
"Dammit!" He swore as he cut the digit on newly formed, razor sharp canines that had already gouged small rips in the tender flesh of his lip. A look of puzzled alarm crossed his face as he carefully fingered the four new teeth (two on the top and two on the bottom), and tried to  
  
understand what was happening to him.   
  
Aoshi noticed his companions discomfort and turned to inquire, but was stopped by the change in Saitoh's appearance and the look on his friends face. "Saitoh-san?"  
  
"Shinomori? What is happening to me? I am growning fangs for God's sake!"  
  
"I would say your 'ki' is showing My Friend. As are all of ours." Aoshi swept his hand to indicate the whole group. "There is a great amount of power and magic in this room, and it would appear we are being caught up in a wave that is bringing out the essence of our inner selves. Our ki's. Just like it did Himura-san."   
  
Indeed, each man was changing.  
  
Hiko stood straight and tall as a mighty oak with his blazing sun-yellow eyes and bulging muscles hard as stones. The raw primitive strength of his earth bound ki surrounded him in an aura of thundering power.  
  
Soujirou glowed and shone brilliant as the heavens having already shown how fast and silent his angel's wings could carry him, and how swift the justice of his gleaming sword could be.  
  
Aoshi's movements were taking on an even more fluid grace than the tall Ninja was known for, and his eyes were glowing the color of a raging ocean storm. The aura of power surrounding him was tangible as if he were the essence of the surging flood and could move anywhere or  
  
anything he wished not matter the size or mass.  
  
And the Predator, Saitoh. The Great Wolf of Mibu bared his fangs and emitted a feral primitive growl of impending attack. The heavy corded muscles in his back, neck, and shoulders were bunched and ready as he waited for the signal that would let his animal spirit loose to hunt and kill.  
  
They were ready. They waited. It was almost time.  
  
"Kaoru...."  
  
Her head hung low on her aching neck. She was so weak and so tired. Her body was spent. He could still feel the tiny presence within her, and he reached deeply for its central core. The burning essance of his ki tenderly cradled the small spirit and soothed it into a state of calm and comfort, as he tried to instill within its tiny mind that he was its' father, and he had come to save both it and its' mother. When he was certain the Unborn was safe and secure, the Kenshin-spirit turned his attention back to his Beloved.  
  
"Kaoru, my beautiful Angel. Wake up. Wake up and run away."  
  
"Ken-shin..." She struggled to lift the heavy weight of her own head and finally succeeded feeling it fall back against the stone pillar. "Ken-shin..." She whispered again wondering if she had really heard his voice or if it were a dream.  
  
"Run koishii. There is not much time left and you have to get away from this place."   
  
"Kenshin?" A surge of adrenaline raced through her and she turned wildly toward the sound of his voice, but found nothing. "Kenshin!" Her whisper was urgent and almost frightened. "Where are you?" Her eyes searched frantically for his flaming red hair or any other clue that he  
  
was near. "Kenshin?"  
  
"I am here, Saiai, but you must do what I am telling you. Run Kaoru. Run for the old shelving over there to your far right. Do you see it, koishii?"  
  
Kaoru looked sharply to her right and thought she could see a pile of rubble and crushed furniture several dozen yards away close to the other end of the room. "Yes, I think so, but...."  
  
"Good, now run, my love. Run for them and do not look back."  
  
"But Kenshin..."  
  
"Do what I am telling you, Kaoru. Please, Saiai, please. Run and be safe from this fight."  
  
Kaoru felt a gentle hand on her waist pushing her away from the pillar and the soft tender press of lips against her cheek, but she still could not see him. "I love you, my Angel. Remember that always, and remember I promised you we would grow old together." A soft kiss brushed her bruised lips. "I meant that, Saiai, but right now I need you to run. Run, Kaoru. RUN NOW!" And that gentle hand shoved her away at an incredible speed and she found herself nearly 20 feet away in a split instant. She stumbled slightly and then regained her footing running as fast as she was able towards the distant shadow of the pile of debris.  
  
Soujirou watched in amazement as Kaoru was literally thrown from the pillar she had been confined to and then start running for the safety of their hiding place. He leapt over the top of the debris and vanished again only to reappear at her side a heart beat later.  
  
"Soujirou!!" Kaoru gasped in shock and nearly fell down as he appeared out of no where, but his strong arms reached out and caught her. Scooping her up swiftly, he disappeared in a flashed with her held firmly against his chest.  
  
The Kenshin-spirit watched in relieved satisfaction as his eldest son took up the responsibility for Kaoru's safety just as he had known he would. He observed from his place of concealment as Soujirou reappeared behind the safety screen of debris and laid the exhausted and wounded woman on the floor next to the sleeping child whom she immediately lifted up into her arms and held against her heart. He smiled as the warmth of his tremendous love for her filled his heart and soul, and then spread outward along his arms and legs.  
  
"Thank-you Soujirou." He whispered to his eldest son and then turned his attention back to the cowering woman standing next to the Altar. "Why are you so afraid, kierei? What have you done wrong?" He spoke soft as a thought to himself and allowed his body to shift and remold itself to the contour of the pillar so he could get a better point of view. Something was terribly wrong. Elsbeth was terrified, yet unwilling to leave. Interesting. Intriguing. Satisfying. The Kenshin-spirit smiled.  
  
  
  
It was blinding in its brilliance, and deafening in its thunderous explosion as it ripped though the huge sky-light and blew a hole larger than two elephants in the perfect marble floor. Deadly sharp shards of the shattered stone exploded in every direction impaling themselves into  
  
the walls, the large stone pillars, or skittering along the floor like missiles searching for a target. The bolt of lightening was monstrous, enormous, it was a freak of nature except it was not natural. The only clouds in the sky were vile dark roiling black clouds that came to obscure the light of the Moon and eat up the sky devouring the stars and the planets. From the depths of this unholy boiling mass of living breathing evil was born the Demon's Finger that struck inside the  
  
sanctity of the Imperial Throne Room of Ancient Emperor's of Japan destroying the ages of Honor and Valor that had once ruled there.  
  
  
  
"HE is here. Oh no." Elsbeth's voice was a terrified whisper that was heard following the last echo of the deafening thunder.  
  
All eyes in the room were locked on the seemingly peaceful sky-light... waiting. The Kenshin-spirit knew what they were waiting for, and he molded himself more tightly against the shape of the pillar preparing himself for the horror that was about to come through that opening in the ceiling. None of them had to wait long.  
  
Just as it had happened before, the lightening after the Demon's Finger was even more powerful. As the incredible bolt of energy struck the same spot as the first, there was an enormous explosion of earth, stone, and more marble fragments that peppered the entire Throne Room.   
  
Hiko and the others crouched over Kaoru and Kuumi protecting them from the deadly falling debris. "Dear God!" Saitoh, swore. "This is the Bakumatsu all over again. Where the hell is the Battousai? Can anyone see him anywhere?"  
  
"You cannot see him." Kaoru's voice was filled with anxiety. "He is.... he is there, but he is not." Her eyes were wide with distress.  
  
"There but not there?" No one understood.  
  
"He cut my bonds and freed me. He spoke to me, he kissed, and he pushed me away from the pillar, but I could not see him at all. He was there but he was not there." She shrugged.  
  
"Bloody Hell. If we live through this.... are any of us going to be normal again?"  
  
No one had the chance to answer that troubling question because the world as they knew it erupted into a place of violence, blood, and death.  
  
"LYING CONNIVING WITCH! YOU HAVE BETRAYED ME!" The huge beast that stood in the middle of the devastation was beyond rational belief for the logical human mind, but that it stood there was undeniable. That it spoke and could be understood also defied all known sane thought or a language barrier. What stood before them all was something human eyes were never meant to see, but could never deny now that they had.  
  
"Kami..."  
  
"God save us all..."  
  
"Heaven preserve our souls..."  
  
"Kami-sama esu." Save our souls.  
  
  
  
It stood at least eight feet tall with massive shoulders twice as wide as Seijurou Hiko's, and hands large enough to crush a mans skull in one palm. Heavily muscled neck, chest, thighs, and calves supported the enormous weight of the hideous head which sported rack of bulls horns  
  
10 feet wide tip to tip. Evil yellow-green eyes glinted from a twisted and obscenely shaped face with a huge hawk-like nose and long pointed chin. Canine fangs two inches long gleaming white in the black flesh of its mouth, and the long thin red forked tongue flicked in and out of the hideous mouth like a snake testing the air for enemies. The flesh covering the beasts body was a deep ruddy red almost like the outer skin of a new tomato, and it was covered with nothing more than a brief loin cloth of sorts made of some unknown fabric secured with a twisted belt of silver. Hanging from the belt was an enormous scimitar, its curved blade nearly touching the ground. It stood on great hooves that dug deeply into the ruined earth beneath its tremendous weight, and it was obvious that one blow from these deadly appendages would easily kill a man.   
  
Acuma had arrived through the doorway.  
  
"WHERE ARE YOU, WITCH? WHERE DO YOU HIDE, BETRAYER?"  
  
"No, My Lord. I have not betrayed you. Please, listen to me..." Her voice was pleading, whimpering, beseeching. She was hiding behind the Altar not daring to face the furious wrath of her Lord. "I can explain, truly I can. Please, give me a chance. Have I ever disappointed you before?"  
  
"YOU PROMISED ME THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT! WHERE IS MY HEART? WHERE IS MY BLOOD? WHERE IS THE BOY?! YOU HAVE LIED TO ME, WITCH!"  
  
"No. No. There were circumstances. There were problems. There was a man..."  
  
"A MAN? I CARE NOTHING FOR YOUR INSIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS AND I  
  
CARE NOTHING ABOUT A MAN. WHERE IS THE BOY?!"  
  
"The boy is gone, My Lord, but I have something better than the boy. I have something that is more powerful than even the boy was." She was terrified and fighting for time.  
  
"MORE THAN THE BOY? EXPLAIN."  
  
"A Samurai, My Lord. A very special Samurai. He has the ki of Fire and was able to destroy my entire Horde with one blow of his power. It is the blood of his unborn son that lies upon the Altar that provided the power to open the doorway tonight."  
  
"THE BLOOD OF 'HIS' UNBORN SON' OPENED THE GATE WITHOUT THE  
  
AID OF SACRIFICE?"  
  
"Yes, My Lord." 'Oh please let him be satisfied.' She begged.  
  
"AND WHERE IS THIS 'SAMURAI' NOW?"  
  
"He is coming. I am sure of it. I have his Beloved captive, and I know he will come for her." She was beginning to feel some of her confidence coming back and started to rise from her hiding place.  
  
"WHERE? I SEE NO ONE ELSE HERE? WHERE IS THIS BELOVED?"  
  
Elsbeth jerked toward the pillar where Kaoru had been and found it empty of its hostage. "KUSO!" She swore. "He is already here. Somehow, he is already here." She frantically started to search the room. "Himura....?"   
  
"BETRAYER!" Acuma screamed in a thunderous voice that shook the plaster on the walls. "YOU HAVE CHEATED ME, WITCH!" He raised his enormous arms in the air and cried out in a terrible voice. "COME TO ME, MY CHILDREN. I STEP FORTH INTO BATTLE, COME TO MY AID. DEATH WILL WALK THE WORLD OF MEN THIS NIGHT!" Then his horrible yellow-green eyes fastened onto Elsbeth's trembling frame with malevolence. "AND YOU WILL  
  
BE THE FIRST TO DIE, MY LOVE. COME INTO MY ARMS FOR THE LAST TIME."   
  
And with a deafening roar he sprang with lightening speed in her direction.  
  
Elsbeth screamed in terror and darted away from the Altar as the primitive instinct to survive took prescience inside her mind. She dashed for the darkness behind her and disappeared as her gray cloak was swallowed up in the shifting shadows.   
  
Suddenly the Demon's Finger began to thunder and dance through the sky-light again, but instead of just damaging the floor it was depositing passengers each time it slammed into the ground. In only a matter of seconds there were hundreds of heavily muscled demons forming a well-  
  
disciplined regimen in the middle of the great room. Each carried a scimitar very much like his Master's tucked into the waist of a crude looking belt, but there was also a long dangerous looking whip curled up hanging on the opposite hip. Beady little black eyes looked around the room sharply with the excellent vision of all nocturnal creatures, and long shapely pointed bat-ears twitched listening for even the slightest out of place sound. They could wait until their Master was finished  
  
with the pathetic humans here, and then they would go on the hunt.   
  
The commander of the group scuffled to the front of the line and crouched to patiently wait for the Master. It would not take long, then they could all taste human blood. It smacked its lips in anticipation as its little black eyes glittered hungrily. That was the last thought it ever had; at least it was a happy one. The ill shaped head suddenly flew off the scrawny neck and landed on the white marble with a wet 'splattering' sound leaving a trail of thick greenish slime in its wake. The body remained standing for several more seconds then dropped in an undignified heap of tangled arms and legs. The Demons closest to him gather around the body stunned and confused. What had happened? They had not seen anything. One moment he was there and the next his head was gone a' bouncing away. Strange. Too bad they all stopped to look. Suddenly Soujirou appeared out of the crackling air above them with his sword swinging in a wide sweeping swathe, and the heads began to roll.  
  
Aoshi slid into the midst of the panicked battalion quiet as a mountain stream and fluid as water through a keyhole. The brilliant glint of his double kodachi's flashed like quick silver as they gracefully cut and sliced, with invisible precision, a pathway through the terrified and confused pack leaving death and devastation in his wake. He surged forward, arms crossing in the elegant fluid motions of mighty strength leveling a great road of destruction behing the awesome power of his rolling wave attack.   
  
Behind Aoshi's deadly fluid assault Hiko lunged forward meeting the pack head on like a great rolling boulder knocking a dozen or more to the ground where he proceeded to slash, slice, and dice them to pieces. Then he nimbly leapt over the heads of several more of the scuttling  
  
creatures as they tried to escape, cutting them down with one stroke that severed the spines at the middle of their hunched backs. The air was at once filled with the high shrill screams of their horrible deaths and the spurting fountains of green-gooze as each terrified heart burst open.   
  
But it was the Great Mibu-Wolf that really got their attention. He sprang into the heart of the terrified pack with a growling howl that made their ears ring with terror and sent them into a panicked stampede running in every direction. He ripped arms and legs from bodies, tore heads free from scrawny necks, broke bones crushing them like fragile twigs with the strength of his hands, and disemboweled anything that came withing reach of his powerful claw tipped feet. He was unstoppable, horrifying, and deadly precise and the white marble floor around him was littered with dozens upon dozens of demon corpses. Demons lay broken in half, twisted into odd shapes and angles, and ripped to pieces with arms and legs dangling from thin strips of flesh.  
  
The carnage in the wake of the White Warriors Army was devastating, and in response the Demon's Finger returned with reinforcements.  
  
The Battle for Heaven and Earth had begun.  
  
Part Four  
  
The White Warrior and the Flaming Sword  
  
  
  
"ACUMA!" The Kenshin-spirit unfolded itself from the contours of the pillar and drew his long sword in the same movement. Flaming red hair unfurled from the broken tie that bound it and fell into a veil of fire around his head and shoulders. It danced and floated with a life of its own as the man crouched low holding the katana straight out but angled towards the ground. Tiger eyes locked with the evil yellow-green eyes of the Beast as he turned to confront the man foolish to call him by his true name. When he took in the slight frame and small stature of the red-haired man crouched a few yards away from him, he began to laugh, a loud raucous sound that vibrated off the walls and echoed within the large room.  
  
"HA HA HA HA! GO HOME, LITTLE MAN. GO HOME BEFORE I STEP ON YOU  
  
AND SQUASH YOU LIKE A BUG. HA HA HAHA HAHA HA! I COULD BREAK YOU IN  
  
HALF WITH ONE FINGER YOU ARE SO SMALL. DO YOU THINK YOU CAN REALLY  
  
STAND UP AND FIGHT AGAINST ME? YOU ARE A FOOL, LITTLE MAN. YOU ARE A  
  
BUG TO ME. COME HERE, AND I WILL SQUASH YOU."  
  
The Kenshin-spirit did not move. He remained frozen still as a statue.   
  
"That is him, My Lord!" Elsbeth screamed from her new hiding place behind one of the tapestries. "That is the Samurai! The Father of the Unborn. That is him! Feel his power, My Lord. Is it not Magnificent! Does it not burn in your heart with its Fire and strength?"   
  
"THIS LITTLE BUG IS YOUR POWERFUL SAMURAI? HE IS NOTHING BUT A  
  
BUG TO BE SQUASHED."  
  
"Feel his Spirit, My Lord. Feel his Spirit! He is the Fire in the exploding Volcano. Feel his spirit, do not let his small size fool you!" She was pleading. Pleading for her Beloved to see the greatness of THIS gift, and how it far out shadowed the boy.  
  
The Beast took several slow steps towards the crouched red-haired man reaching out with his own power trying to feel for this Spirit the Witch kept screaming about, but he could feel nothing. The little man was cold as stone, and remained just as still. There were no sensations or emotions around him at all. He may as well be made of stone or be dead for all the energy he was not emitting, but the Beast kept moving in closer just the same. He cocked his bovine head to one side cautiously watching the strange red-haired Samurai.   
  
'He does not have human eyes. His eyes are strange and unnatural. They are the eyes of an animal. There is something very different  
  
about this man. Perhaps I should not be so hasty to assume he is of no concern.'   
  
The Kenshin-spirit watched the Beast moving towards him calculating each carefully placed step of his humongous hooves and every twitch of every muscle. Masking his ki's energy was simple at this point. All he had to do was continue to connect himself to the pillar and think of  
  
himself as a piece of the stone. The Beast could feel nothing because there was nothing to feel, and so the Kenshin-spirit waited, waited for the right moment. Waited for the Beast to come a little bit closer. Waited for him to be a little bit more off guard. Waited for the perfect moment to strike.  
  
With the speed of a lightening bolt, the fury and strength of a typhoon, and the power of a crushing boulder the Kenshin-spirit sprang upward screaming the battle cry of the Battousai. The Beasts reflexes were perfect and his scimitar was drawn to counter the attack before the Samurai was completely out of his crouch, but the Kenshin-spirit had anticipated that.  
  
Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Kan San Isimuji.  
  
The White Warrior flew directly into the face of the Beast and his blade then suddenly whirled himself at God-like speed into a tight twisting maneuver that pulled him out of the way of the slashing scimitar and forced him behind his opponents back.  
  
TTTHHRRWWAASHH!!  
  
"AAAARRGGGGGHHH!" The Beast cried out in pain as the Kenshin-spirit's blade struck with incredible force and speed. It cut deep through the heavy muscle and flesh until it hit bone then sliced downward to open a huge wound across the length of his back from shoulder to  
  
waist. He stumbled and fell to one knee nearly dropping his great blade when his fist struck the solid marble floor. Steaming black blood ran freely from the horrible gash running through his heated flesh and dripped onto the floor forming odd shaped boiling puddles. With a roaring shout of rage, the Beast surged to his feet and jerked around to face the small human who had dare inflicted such damage on him. "YOU WILL DIE SCREAMING WHILE I TEAR YOUR HEART OUT, SAMURAI." The threat was issued in a hissing whisper that was meant to create terror and unsettle the Kenshin-spirits resolve, but the red-haired man only stood as he had landed, crouched and frozen waiting for another pass.  
  
Rage and fury boiled inside the Beasts heart as Pride and Arrogance screamed for vengeance, but he also realized that this small human could no longer be under estimated. 'He is cunning as well as strong, and he possesses a speed that matches my own. I must be more careful in my approach. I must defeat him. I must have this power. I must have it.' Great seething yellow-green eyes narrowed into burning slits.   
  
Acuma circled slowly to the left looking for a break or a weakness in the mans attack stance. He was not familiar with batto-jutsu and found the mans actions confusing. All of the battles he had fought over the centuries were simply hack and slash and be done with it, but this little bug was not playing by the same rules. The trick he had used to get behind Acuma's back was nothing short of ingenious. It was going to take more than strength to defeat him., and Acuma was determined to do just that. He had caught a taste of this mans power in his last attack and the magnitude of it had been dizzying. No wonder Elsbeth wanted him instead of the Boy. His ki would keep the doorway open for longer than Eternity, and it would offer more to Him than just the doorway. This was a power source of unlimited potential, and he wanted it. Perhaps a surprise attack.  
  
Acuma lunged in low towards the Kenshin-spirit from the side with scimitar held in both hands as he prepared to swing it a deadly flat arch meant to cut him in half in one swipe, but the intended target had disappeared before he could even start the maneuver.   
  
Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Tsui Sen!  
  
The katana came crashing down from the air above him like a great hammer and, because he remained crouched low, it made full contact with the thick muscle group between his neck and shoulder as it easily slid past the massive horns that usually protected him from such attacks. He felt the razor sharp blade cut deeply into the heavy flesh breaking his collar bone before it was pulled loose in another gush of steaming blood. Once more Acuma fell to his knee gasping with the pain and indignity of being wounded so grievously by such an insignificant appearing opponent. The numbing agony was turning his left arm into a useless piece of wood that was going to hang at his side to serve as only a hindrance. Steam rose from his heated skin, and his yellow-green eyes glared death at the small red-haired Samurai.  
  
"NOW, YOU WILL DIE." Acuma captured the Kenshin-spirits strange eyes and locked gazes with them. "NO HUMAN HAS EVER SPILT MY BLOOD IN ANY WORLD, AND I WILL NOT BE HUMILIATED BY ONE SUCH AS YOU." He struggled ungainly to his hooves and stood awkwardly but maintained his eye contact with the small Samurai who appeared to have no fear of him at all. "YOUR PATHETIC ATTEMPT S TO TAKE MY LIFE ARE AT AN END. YOU MUST  
  
KNOW YOU CANNOT KILL ME. I AM IMMORTAL. YOU ARE WASTING YOUR EFFORTS,  
  
LITTLE SAMURAI." A trembling hand raised the massive scimitar into a high attack position in front of Acuma's chest. "I ADMIT YOUR SPIRIT IS POWERFUL. IT MUST BE FOR YOU TO HAVE GOTTEN CLOSE ENOUGH TO WOUND ME, BUT IT WILL ALSO BE YOUR DOWNFALL. YOUR POWER AND STRENGTH BELONG TO ME NOW, BECAUSE YOUR PITIFUL HUMAN BODY WILL NEVER OUTLAST MY GOD'S CONTINENCE." An ugly smile curled Acuma's hideous mouth showing long fangs dripping with blackened saliva. "YOUR EXHAUSTION WILL BE YOUR UNDOING LITTLE HUMAN. YOU ALREADY BELONG TO ME."  
  
"I do not think so." The Kenshin-spirit spoke with Kenshin's quiet resolve and stood up straight facing the Beast solemnly. "My soul and my spirit belong to me and I will never allow you to use them for your perverse pleasure in this world or any other."  
  
"YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN STOP ME? YOU ARE A FOOL, LITTLE SAMURAI."  
  
"No. It is you who are the Fool, Acuma. It is my Destiny to stop you from opening this doorway, and I mean to do so. I am not so foolish as to believe I can take your life. That is impossible, but there is a life I can take that will destroy all of your plans. That there is." A slow smile of confidence crossed the serene lips of Kenshin's face. "Do you know the life of which I am speaking?"  
  
Acuma stood still in complete confusion. His blazing yellow-green eyes were narrowed into mere slits as he tried to read the answer hidden within the Kenshin-spirits mind, but he was unable to penetrate the powerful shield the man had protecting himself.   
  
"You do not know. How interesting. I would have thought that you of all of us would have known how truly precarious your hold on this world really was. You disappoint me. That you do." A mocking laugh flowed over well shaped lips. "And I have been spending so many days trying to prepare for our meeting because I believed you would be so frightening and overwhelming, but I find myself hardly even disturbed by your presence. You are not 'all powerful' great Lord of the Darkness.   
  
You are not even worthy of an honorable bow. How can I possibly take you seriously as the King of Destruction and Damnation if you do not even stir a flutter of fear or respect in my heart?" More mocking laughter flowed from the small red-haired Samurai as he adopted a nonchalant stance.   
  
"You are a jodan, Acuma. You are nothing without your Witch to gather the necessary ingredients for each spell and ritual. You have endowed her with all the power while you set and wait for her to  
  
accomplish all the needed tasks that you are unable to do for yourself. Where would you be without her?"   
  
Suddenly the Kenshin-spirit leapt high in the air and disappeared from comprehensible sight. A heart beat later an ear shattering scream pierced the cacophony of the room and everything within it came to a shuddering halt. What few demons that were left alive, scattered into the shadows fleeing for their lives as the murderous battle paused.   
  
The White Warriors Army paused and cast their eyes forward to where they knew their leader fought hand to hand with the Beast, and each felt a stab of worry when he could not find any trace of that brave man.  
  
"Where is he?" Aoshi took an involentary step forward and stopped. "What has happened? Who screamed? Where is Kenshin?" His voice was sharp with a mix of anxiety and anger. "I cannot see him." KUSO!   
  
"Wait...." Soujirou stepped up next to the Ninja. "Look, just there." His slender graceful fingers pointed towards the shadows to the far left of the Throne and the Altar. "What is that?"  
  
  
  
Walking out of the shadows was an oddly shaped form. It was hunched and appeared to have two heads, and it moved in a lurching awkward fashion. Acuma watched with more than a little apprehension as it moved closer and closer to the light. A snarling and growling sound preceded the form and the vicious snapping of a large animal's jaws was audible. He took a side stance holding his weapon forward as he waited for whatever approached to emerge from the darkness.  
  
Suddenly half of the image was roughly thrown into the light. It staggered drunkenly and fell hard onto its hands and knees letting out a shrill howl of pain and outrage.  
  
"Goddamn you, Himura! Damn you to Hell!" The Beast that was Elsbeth screamed and turned in fury to pounce on the red-haired Samurai, but a well placed back kick caught the side of her cat-face and sent her reeling along the white marble again. He followed her and shoved a hard  
  
sandaled foot under her vulnerable chin and pressed his heel against her fragile windpipe.  
  
"If you move, I swear to you I will crush your throat." His unnatural tiger eyes bore into her swirling liquid silver ones, and a shudder of pure fear danced through her whole body. 'He is not  
  
bluffing me.' The realization that he would not hesitate to kill her that quickly froze every nerve and muscle in her muscular altered body.   
  
"I have your Meito, whether you claim her or not, you Bastard God, and I will kill her unless you remove yourself from this world... now." The Kenshin-spirit spoke low and harsh using the Battousai's most deadly voice as he threatened the King of Hell. "If she dies, your world dies  
  
with her, or have you not figured that out yet, BAKA!"   
  
Acuma's yellow-green eyes stared blankly at the Elsbeth-thing and filtered through his mind everything the small Samurai was insinuating to him, and finally all of the pieces fell into place. It was true. He had endowed her with an unholy amount of power in this world, and made her strong beyond all human boundries. He had corrupted her soul and made her the twisted thing she was at this moment, and he had promised her she would be his Queen even though that was never his intention. Acuma did not share his power with anyone, but he had inexorably linked her to him by endowing her with so much of his own power. If she died before the Ritual was completed....  
  
"HOW CAN YOU LEAVE HER ALIVE, SAMURAI? AS LONG AS SHE IS ALIVE, I WILL COME BACK AND THIS WILL NEVER BE OVER."  
  
"I never said I was going to leave her alive... did I." The Battousai's voice remained cold and threatening as the Kenshin-spirit met the glaring eyes of the huge devil-man. "I only said I would kill her if you did not leave, but I never said I would not kill her after you were gone... did I?" Tiger eyes narrowed dangerously and the foot pressing against the Elsbeth-thing's throat pushed down a little harder eliciting a strangled cry of terror from her. "If she dies before you go back  
  
through the doorway... I wonder... what will happen to you?" A nasty smile crossed the innocent looking boyish-face. "It has never happened before has it?" The smile grew into a mocking grin as the Kenshin-spirit watched a look of confused alarm wash over the devi-mans face. "Where would you go, Acuma? Would you be instantly transported back to Hell, or would you be sent to some strange Oblivion where you might never escape?" He laughed a wicked chucked. "YOU do not know, do you?"   
  
Then at that precise moment several things happened at once.  
  
Joseph and Karl, who had been cowering behind the Altar through the battle between the Kenshin-spirit and their King, suddenly sprang at the White Warrior and knocked him off of their Beloved Mistress and sending him sprawling and sliding along the smooth marble floor. Then they  
  
yanked her up to flee back towards the safety of the shadows and distance from the soon-to-be swinging swords.  
  
Acuma roared in rage and flew like quick as a lightning bolt towards the throat of the red-haired man with his scimitar raised high over his head. His minds eyes could already see the red-haired skull splitting beneath the power of his downward blow.  
  
The White Warriors Army, each screaming his own unique battles cry, rushed forward from where they had been standing frozen in disbelief at their leader's audacity with weapons' drawn intent on protecting the Warrior from his own impending demise.   
  
Kaoru struggled to her feet on shaky legs to watch what was happening and a scream of terror and denial tore itself from her chest.  
  
"KENSHIN! NO!" And she was scrambling over the top of the rotting debris and half running half falling her way into the fray of the confusing battle. The only thought in her mind was the image of Kenshin being knocked over and sliding along the floor being left completely  
  
vulnerable, and that massive bovine Beast baring down upon him with scimitar poised for the killing blow. "KENSHIN!" The pain in her abdomen was terrible, but she ignored it and kept running. He was all that mattered to her.   
  
And the doors at the darkest end of the room were pushed open with enough force to break the old hinges and shake dust free from the ancient walls.  
  
Kuumi slept through it all. 


	19. Doom's DayThe Final Battle

A/N:3/27/04--this is the last chapter for 'The White Warrior and The Angel of Destruction'. If you are interested in the sequel, you can find it easier if you return to my authors page by clicking my penname url on this page "Kanzen ne Tsuki". Once on my authors page, scroll down to 'stories published' and click on 'Beloved of The White Flame'. This is the sequel. It has been in progress for several months, and has 16 chapters as of today. I hope you have enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. The sequel is a little different. It is more focused on Kenji, but continues the storyline. Enjoy. Tsuki-san  
  
Glossary: Tenshi=angel, Meito=Mate, Koishii=dear/darling, Saiai=beloved, Shin-yuu=friend,  
  
***Attacks***  
  
Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Tsui San=Dragon Hammer (Kenshin's Favorite)  
  
Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Sou San=Twin Dragon Flash-Striking first with the blade of the sword and then following up with a strike with the sheath.  
  
HIten Mitsurugi Ryu Amakakareru Ryo no Hirameki=The Dragon Flash (Final Attack)  
  
Chapter 19  
  
  
  
Doom's Day  
  
He shook his head trying to gain his bearings and equilibrium after being thrown so far by the two men who had knocked him over. Suddenly the tingling warning signals of an inborn second sense that he had always possessed, began shouting at him that a terrible danger was approaching him swiftly and would surely end his life if he did not move post. So, as his instincts and speed took control of his body, he crouched low and then threw himself backwards and upwards covering a tremendous distance in less time than it took for him to draw the breath he needed to summon his strength. Landing well out of reach, he touched down gracfully and silently as a butterfly and the deftness of the predator he was. Quickly his eyes raced across the scene before him and he absorbed the details in a heart beat.   
  
Chaos had been born.  
  
  
  
The pack of demons left in the room rushed forward screaming shrilly as they gathered around their Master preparing to defend him with their meager lives. Little scimitars swung wildly through the air as beady black eyes watched the Elemental Army closing in on them. Acuma's yellow eyes stared in shocked disbelief as he watched the four men circling in for an attack. The numbing power of their surging ki's was almost overpowering to him as the force of their combined energy flowed over the top of him like a giant wave crashing against a vulnerable shoreline.   
  
"WHO ARE YOU?" Acuma demanded in a loud voice of the men who approached him so menacingly.   
  
"Your worst nightmare, Horn-boy." Saitoh growled as he leapt over the heads of the screaming demons and landed in the middle of Acuma's wounded and bleeding back teeth bared and claws poised. "How does it feel to be on the receiving end you Sonofabitch!" And he sank his fangs deep into the ragged ruined flesh and began tearing and ripping. The devil man screamed in pain and rage dropping his scimitar as he frantically tried to reach the Wolf-man on his back with his right hand, but found him just out beyond his grasping fingers.  
  
"HELP ME!" He screamed in futility as the other three men waded into his demon soldiers cutting them down like weeds in an otherwise barren field. They died quickly beneath the onslaught and Acuma could see that he was losing this battle. "NNAARRGGHHH!" He spun and whipped around in tight dizzying circles trying desperately to throw Saitoh off, but the Wolf-man only dug his claws deeper into the red flesh seemingly oblivious to the scorching heat and boiling blood that poured from the open wounds as he continued to tear at the devil-man's vulnerable neck and shoulders.  
  
Slowly Kenshin began to realize as he knelt crouched on the cold marble, that his spirit-self was no longer in charge of his body, and that He was once again the Master of his own actions. This fact left him feeling a bit uneasy because it had been much easier letting his spirit-self take care of things. I guess it is time for me to take up my own sword and fill my own shoes and stop letting everyone do my work for me. Taking a deep breath, he filled his lungs with air, closed his gleaming golden eyes, and then let it out slowly as he counted to ten. Take your place, Himura Kenshin. It is time to be the Warrior you were meant to be. Stand up and take your place.  
  
  
  
Himura Kenshin, The White Warrior sprang straight up into the air and disappeared from the place he had been crouched watching the scene in front of him, and let his God-like speed carry him through space and time into the middle of the bloody battlefield where his friends and family fought for the sanctity of mankind. He abruptly appeared right before Acuma's startled yellow-green eyes as he dropped out of the air screaming the Battousai's bone chilling battle cry katana in a two-handed hold over his head poised for a powerful downward stroke. As the furious Hitokiri descended with murderous purpose, Saitoh leapt free from the devil-man's body before the Battousai could land the devastating blow.  
  
Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Tsui San!  
  
The mighty strength of the Dragon's hammer once again slammed into the devil mans body only this time it hit him fully in the chest slicing deeply into the thickness of the left pectoral muscle throwing him backwards with enough force to shatter the large stone Altar when his massive body crashed into it.As Acuma struggled to stand, Kenshin charged upon the wounded devil-man's position without waiting for a single moment to pass, sheathing his long blade as he ran.  
  
Hiten Mitsurugi Sou Ryu San!  
  
The long sword flashed with incredible speed and struck the devil-man levelly across the chest opening a second deep wound straight across the first breaking several ribs in the process as the audible sound of cracking bones was heard. As the huge beast staggered beneath the assault, Kenshins left hand whipped the wooden hilt free of his belt and smashed it with a sickening THUD against the side of the devil-men's malformed head.  
  
Acuma reeled drunkenly beneath the rapid succession of attacks and felt consciousness trying to desert him. His powerful body dropped to its knees and his large yellow eyes blinked blankly then he sat back on his haunches unable to continue. The great bovine head dropped in exhaustion and defeat before the small red-haired Samurai.   
  
An anguished cry of grief and denial cracked through the Throne Room and suddenly Kenshin was attacked by the Beast that was Elsbeth. She was all claw-tipped hands, and fangs as she pounced upon him.  
  
"Damn you, Himura! Damn you! Damn Your soul into everlasting Hell! Look at what you have done to him! How could you? How?" Long spindly claws reached for and tried to scratch his face and gouge his eyes, but he captured her wrists and proceeded to struggle with her in a battle of strength and pure will. "I will kill you for this! I will! I am going to tear your fucking chest apart and eat you alive while you scream!" Kenshin was amazed at her strength and found himself expending a great deal of energy keeping her at bay. I have to keep her away from my eyes or she will blind me with my own blood. I must find a way to immobilize her... Kami...  
  
Then, all at once, as if in answer to the plea of his Soul, the thing that was Elsbeth was seized from behind by two very strong and capable arms of an unknown and unseen assailant who was dwarfed behind her ungainly size. One arm wrapped around her neck while the other forced her head forward from the back farther tightening that deadly grip and immobilizing her at the same time. Within one shattering moment, Elsbeth's airway was completely cut off and left her fighting to breath. Chocking and gagging for even the smallest breath, her malevolent grip on Kenshin was released, and her frantic claw-hands locked onto those offending arms trying desperately to free herself, but the death grip could not be broken. The swirling orbs of liquid silver that were her eyes grew huge and bulbous as she struggled for even the smallest amount of air, but only the tiniest squeaks of terror could be heard croaking in her quivering throat as the muscles began to contract with the pain of over spent effort. Kenshin stared at the struggle with the unknown assailant behind Elsbeth with a sort of fascinated horror as she slowly ran out of air, strength, and consciousness. The brilliant shining silver of her eyes faded to a flat grey as they became lifeless and dull. Then she was dropping limply into a heap on the floor like a bag of old bones, and she did not move. Elsbeth was dead, and a winded but triumphant Kaoru looked into Kenshin's shocked face and nodded once just before she fell to her knees overcome by pain and weakness.  
  
"Kaoru!" He cried and rushed to her side with wide frightened eyes. Strong gentle arms lifted her up so he could look into her face, and his worried golden eyes searched her pale face. "Are you all right?" His voice was hoarse with terror, and his fear for her life was screaming from his eyes and face. "Why did you do this? I told you to stay away. I told you to stay in a safe place. Why did you disobey me? Why Kaoru? Why? Why did you put yourself in so much danger after I told you what it meant to me for you to be safe? Why koishii? Why?" He pressed his forehead against her clammy cold one and wrapped his arms around her. "You and the baby are all that matter to me. I cannot lose you. I cannot. I cannot lose either one of you." As he buried his face in her hair, the entire world around him was suddenly forgotten.  
  
Then that world exploded into the flashing horror of brilliant white lightning, deafening thunder, flying earth and white marble, and the screams of the terrified souls still alive in the devastated room.  
  
The crackling explosion of the Demon's Finger crashed into the Throne Room and shattered more of the white marble floor throwing the deadly little spears in every direction. Several of the small demons found themselves victims of the flying projectiles as they were impaled to the walls and pillars screaming and spouting green goo. Kenshin instinctively leaned over and covered Kaoru as best as he could trying to protect her from the deadly missiles that whizzed passed them at alarming speeds. What demons were not murdered by the explosions were destroyed by the discerning lightening bolts themselves as they danced across the room seeking and finding each and every one of the terrified squealing little creatures until they were all gone. Then the horrible screaming of the two human men who were left from Elsbeth's four original disciple's were also identified and burned to nothing more than powdered ash.   
  
Kaoru was screaming beneath Kenshin's shielding body, and he could feel her terror the same as his had been that night on the mountain. He could also hear the horrified screams of his comrades and he sent a fervent prayer to the Gods to watch over them and spare their lives through this unholy nightmare.  
  
Then there was silence. A silence so still that even the coldness of the air seemed to die and cease to move. Kenshin tentatively raised his head and looked around at the incredible destruction of the once grand room, and then caught his breath before sucking in a gasp of astonished wonder. Kami-sama, the Tenshi.... Can it be?   
  
Kaoru lifted her head and followed his line of vision, and her mouth opened in silent awe. Soujirou stood in the center of the pale moonlight that was now coming through the sky-light, his boyish face was turned towards the heavens with a look of pure joy covering the fine features, and his pale azure-blue eyes gleaming with the glittering light of the most brilliant stars. Over his head, gripped tightly in both hands, was his gleaming white long sword the point raised to the midnight blue sky. Oh beautiful Soujirou, what have you become? What are you my extraordinary Prince of Heaven? What are you?  
  
Shards of electrical energy jumped and danced in, around, and through the fiercely white long bladed katana, and that same unusual frightening display of energy was passing through Soujirou's body and leaping across the ground all around him while he remained unharmed.   
  
Soujirou had obtained complete control over the 'Hand of Fire' and had systematically eliminated their enemies, and now he stood in the glory of the Power of the "Hand" unharmed waiting. There was only one thing left to be done. Only one thing that must be completed before the Night would be over. That one thing was the defeated Acuma who still knelt on the floor, scimitar at his side, and his head bowed in humiliation.  
  
Kenshin stood and approached the devil-mans side with a firm step full of purpose and authority, his katana firmly in hand. "It is time for you to leave now." He spoke in the low and deadly voice of the Battousai, and motioned toward the sky-light. "My son will hold the doorway open for you so you can enter safely. Please leave while you can. There is no other way." The razor sharp tip of the blade pressed menacingly against the unprotected and ravaged throat. "Surely you know this, since your Meito is dead there is no other way for you to return to your own world."  
  
"YES, I AM AWARE, SAMURAI." The huge devil-man acquiesced, and climbed with extreme effort to his hooves and stood unsteadily, but still managed to face the man he would come to remember as The White Warrior. "YOU WERE A WORTHY OPPONENT, LITTLE HUMAN. PERHAPS ONE DAY WE WILL MEET AGAIN, BUT NEXT TIME I WILL BE PREPARED FOR YOU AND YOU WILL NOT WIN SO EASILY."  
  
Kenshin narrowed his golden eyes at the devil-man and allowed the Battousai to speak once more. "I think not, Acuma. I do not suggest you ever come back to my world again. Not while I nor any of my kin live and still breath air. You will not be received quite as warmly the next time. Trust me, My Friend." The undertone of threat was mild but apparent, and Acuma reared back slightly, but inclining his head, picked up his scimitar turned to walk away toward Soujirou. Kenshin turned away as well to return to Kaoru's side believing everything was at an end, but...  
  
A monstrous suffocating rush of Acuma's spirit-ki flooded over Kenshin from very close behind, and he felt all sense of time leave him as he locked eyes with his Beloved. It was too close. It was too fast. It was too late. There was no time.  
  
"KENSHIN!! NOOOO!" Kaoru was screaming and lunging towards him her arms outstretched and her beautiful blue eyes blown wide open with horror as she watched the huge scimitar arching downward at an almost invisible speed in an inexorable path towards Kenshin's back. "NOOOO!" It was too fast. It was too close. It was too late. There was no time.  
  
The world was moving in slow motion, and Kenshin knew there was no time for him to evade the death blow even with Hiten Miturugi's God-like speed. The time of his death was at hand and there was nothing that could stop it, and within his mind the thoughts began flying faster than time itself could follow. Golden eyes, filled with regret, were locked with the terror stricken deep blue of Kaoru's, and in that heartbeat of his life, he tried to communicate a lifetime of love and hope to her with a single look.   
  
"I love you Kaoru. I will always love you. I am sorry, I thought there would be more time for us. Forgive me, My Aisai. Love our children for me, for both of us. Do not let them forget me, and I beg of you do not forget me, Kaoru. Do not let my face fade away from your memory. Tell our son about me, and remember you love me because I will be waiting for you, koishii. I will be waiting on the log beside the river, with the fireflies. You know the place. I will be waiting there for you. I will wait forever."  
  
As his eyes closed a single tear slid down his cheek, and the heartbeat was over.   
  
Good-bye.  
  
But the death blow never came. Kenshin was never struck to the ground dead beneath the impending arch of the descending scimitar. Instead, Kaoru's arms closed around him and they both fell, hitting the floor hard as she pulled him out of the way of the blade that never fell. At the same instant the huge room was saturated with a thick blinding bloody colored glow that oozed into every nook and corner to swallow and smother everything and everyone until not one thing remained uncovered, and with it came a thundering wall of incredible power that slammed into the devil-man like a locomotive running at full steam throwing him several dozen yards away from Kenshin.   
  
All of this happened inside the same heartbeat it would have taken for Acuma to kill the red-haired Samurai.   
  
"Get the fuck away from my Father, you ugly Bastard!" YAHIKO!Kenshin's mind reeled with the recognition of that furious growling voice as he lifted his dazed head off the floor. Yahiko! Oh God! My wildling son is standing between us and the Devil. What does all of this mean?   
  
Acuma roared and charged the seething enraged man-child that was suddenly standing between him and his nemesis. The boy! This is Elsbeth's wild-boy! His right arm was pulled back for a mighty backhanded strike, but the powerful crushing blows of an unseen fist smashed into his wounded chest, throwing him backwards. Falling heavily to his knees, he choked and sputtered coughing black blood and vomit which he spat out onto the floor.   
  
"Take your sorry filthy ass back to Hell where you belong, and leave me and my family alone, or I swear to God, I'll beat you into the bloody ground head first!" Yahiko's fists were clenched into tight balls at his sides, the knuckles white with rage. His whole body shook with the force of the emotions boiling through his soul, and the enormous energy of his ki was screaming around him like a furious animal waiting to be unleashed. "Don't fuck with me! I'd just as soon blow you up, as look at your stinking ugly face, so get the hell away from us, or I'll start getting serious. YOU GET ME, ASSHOLE?"  
  
Kaoru rushed to Kenshin and he put a protective arm around her and pulled her back away from Yahiko. They were joined by Aoshi, Hiko, and Saitoh. Soujirou stood stone still in the center of the sky-light holding the immense power of the 'Hand of Fire' at bay, but his eyes were now trained on his younger brother, waiting.  
  
Acuma had felt the fury and power of Kenshin's awesome Fire-ki and had been stunned by its strength, but this boy. This boy was an altogether different matter. This was not a trained or skilled warriors ki, but instead this was a ki born wild and untamed capable of anything the child wished it to do. It may not have the elegant smoothness of the Father's well honed energy signature, but it was infinitely more dangerous in its power because of its pure explosive nature and shear unpredictability. This boy could crack the world in half if he wanted to. Acuma felt the first shiver of fear he had ever known, and it disturbed him. He wiped blood off the corner of his mouth and stood up. His scimitar was too far away to do him any good, but he may be able to reach it if he circled the Brat. Maybe...   
  
Yahiko intently watched the Devil start to move and lead off towards one side. Pale cherry-pink eyes narrowed as he tried to judge what it was attempting to, and they darted to his right noticing the large curved sword laying on the floor. A slow wicked smile curved his young lips, and the bloody glow in the room began to dissipate. 'I'm not that stupid, Asshole.'  
  
Acuma thought he was almost home-free and he enjoyed an inner smile of sly self satisfaction. Children were so gullible, and even if this one possessed an astonishing gift, he seemed to be no exception. The scimitar was only a few feet away and the boy had not moved a muscle. He only had to take a few more short steps and it would be in his hand, and the boy would be a bloody pile of rags on the white marble floor. Gullible Brat.   
  
But, unfortunately for him, it was Acuma that was being gullible. He did not notice the fading red light within the air, nor the wicked gleam dancing in the boys glowing reddish-pink eyes. With one great shove and malevolent snap of his mind, Yahiko sent the blood lust of his raging ki swarming all over the devil-man in one suffocating and all encompassing move, and it descended upon him like a crimson death shroud.  
  
Acuma felt the pain in his head first, then it dropped to his chest, and finally settled in his gut. It felt to him like being crushed beneath a great and enormous weight, and the pressure was unbearable. The pain worsened and he doubled over groaning as something inside of him started squeezing harder and tighter until he felt a 'pop'. Then he was filled with a burning fire that devoured his insides like a hungry dragon. Throwing his great bovine head back, Acuma screamed an unnatural sound of intense agony and fell to his knees coughing and retching up huge clots and clumps of coagulated black vomit that steamed and burned on the floor. His heavily muscled arm wrapped around his middle and he bent over moaning piteously like a sick cow in the field. His useless left arm hung limply at his side dragging along the pale cold floor as he rocked back and forth in mindless agony.  
  
Again and again the pain came, squeezing and tearing at the soft tissues until ,at last, something else 'popped' and the burning pain flared through his innards once more, and he convulsed vomiting up more blood sobbing in helpless agony as he collapsed.  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME...?" It was the groaning, moaning cry of the vanquished, and the large yellow eyes had turned a sickly milkish color. "I CANNOT STAND ANYMORE. STOP! STOP! I... THINK... I THINK YOU ARE KILLING ME. STOP!"  
  
Yahiko just smiled a nasty evil twist of his lips for a moment, and then he spoke in a degrading and debasing tone. "So, you have had enough, have you, Mr. Devil? You are pathetic. What a major disappointment you turned out to be. I thought the Devil was supposed to be scarey, but you are nothing but a funny lookin' Bull-faced baka full of bullshit and hot air." Then he let his pale reddish-pink eyes narrow into gleaming slits of cold hatred, and the power began surging around him again. "But you know, I am really sick of you and that fucking creepy bitch that was working for you, and I have really had enough of this whole damned thing." He spit on the floor and his lips pulled back into a snarl. "I want to go home. I want to take my Otousan, my sensei, my Brother, my Sofu, and everybody else and get the hell out of this place and just... go... home... so... here is the deal." He dropped his chin and cast an ugly wild gaze into Acuma's nervous direction. "I... want... you... to... leave... now... so... why... don't ... you... just... fucking... LEAVE!" An enormous explosion of ki power blasted outward from the young man, and suddenly the room was colored an even deeper shade of red than before as the manifestation swept through the air and swallowed everything within its embrace. Tremendous surging shock waves of pure untamed spirit energy exploded violently through the air, much the same as they had that day inside the tunnel at the prison, and the fragile bodies of the people present were picked up and thrown violently aside as if they were nothing more than rag dolls.  
  
When the incredible force of the blast hit Acuma, he was picked up like a dry useless husk and thrown with the force of a hundred tornado's towards the center of the sky-light where Soujirou stood, and when his massive body crashed to the ground, Soujirou gave a loud cry into the midnight blue sky.  
  
"I am Seta Soujirou, 'The Sword of Heaven,' Hear me, and open the Holy Doorway of Heaven. There is one here that must be returned. One which does not belong in this world of human men. Hear me, and allow me to send him back to his own dimensional plane!" A brilliant bolt of pure white light shot down from the sky and touched the gleaming tip of his sword, and then Soujirou was engulfed within the glorious halo of Heaven's Doorway as the portal opened around him. "Be gone Evil Lord of the Underworld. Leave this most holy of places and return here no more. Be gone through Heaven's Doorway and find your way back into the Realm's of Hell, and then, for all that is pure and innocent, may the Doorway close behind you forever, and never be opened again." The gleaming white sword dropped with astonishing speed and struck Acuma on the head with the flat of the blade, and as he roared in pain, he fell to his side and rolled into a tight ball of instinctive protection. Then suddenly the great bovine beast was enveloped in a sphere of light that appeared to cover and surround him utterly. "Leave this place NOW." Soujirou's sword struck the pulsing white sphere and it exploded into a brilliant glittering shower of star bursts and flames. When the sparks and flames cleared, both the spere and the beast within were gone.   
  
Kenshin stood next to Kaoru holding her up next to his side as they watched Yahiko and Soujirou rid the world of The King of Hell and Damnation and send him back to his own World. And just like that, it was over.   
  
"Incredible." Kenshin whispered as he pulled Kaoru closer to him. "Did we see what we just saw?" He turned and pressed a tender kiss against her temple. "Did my beloved sons just vanquish the King of Hell and send him back to the Darkness in humiliation with his tail between his legs?" Beautiful deep blue-purple eyes gazed into her pale but relieved face, and he raised a hand to gently cup the curve of her cheek. " I love you." He whispered and pulled her against his heart. "It is finally over."  
  
  
  
"KENSHIN!" Hiko's shouted alarm tore Kenshin's arms from Kaoru, and as he instinctively twisted around into a defensive crouch as his God-like speed turned him to face a very-much alive Elsbeth who was nearly upon him. Her long, thin bladed dagger was raised high over her head and pointed at his heart. The speed at which she was moving was unnaturally fast, and she blurred in front of Kenshin's eyes as she closed the distance between them in only seconds. Kenshin's hands reacted with skilled deliberateness as he reached for his long bladed katana grasping it in traditional battojutsu stance, and he took the step to meet her headlong rushing attack.  
  
Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki!  
  
The long bladed razor sharp katana was pulled from its sheath in faster than God-like speed as Kenshin stepped forward on his left foot, and met Elsbeth's blind charge with its deadly upward swinging cut. But instead of it catching her across the chest as it was meant to, the lighting fast blade passed through the flesh, blood vessels, and bones of her neck in the blink of an eye. Her head-long flight was stopped in a mid stride, and she stood with grey-green eyes opened wide in horrified astonishment and confusion. For an instant they blinked and a tear slipped free and ran down her pale cheek, and then her head, with its long beautiful cascade of long chestnut hair dropped to the white marble floor and rolled until it came to a stop at Aoshi's feet.  
  
"I do not think she will be getting back up this time, shin-yuu. It would appear she's lost her head over the whole matter, and will not be able to face the shame of total annihilation." Aoshi's voice was dry and slightly sarcastic. "It would appear the old adage is true after all."  
  
Everyone was staring at Aoshi as if he had grown two more heads. "What old adage is that Shinomori?" Saitoh moved up next to the tall thin Ninja and looked down at the severed head of the Witch.   
  
"You know, absolute power corrupts absolutely. She never had a chance in hell over winning this fight against the four of us."  
  
"Five." Kenshin walked over to him with a huge grin on his exhausted face, and reached up to put a firm hand on Aoshi's shoulder. "Aoshi, my brother. I do believe you are developing a sense of humor as well as a bad case of sarcasm." He burst out laughing when the taller stoic man gave him a huffy look of offense.  
  
"I do not think you need to be insulting, Himura. After all, I did just risk my life for you."  
  
"Yes, you did, shin-yuu. Yes you did, and for that I am eternally grateful, but the fact remains, you keep spouting spontaneous quips of sarcasm. Whether you realize it or not."  
  
"And they are quite good, actually. If I do say so myself." Saitoh gave Aoshi a conspiratal look and then started to search his pockets for a cigarette. "I told you all. I knew he was alive in there. It was just a matter of time until something cracked that ice cold exterior. I just did not realize it was going to be a dead woman." A look of absolute worry and puzzlement crossed poor Aoshi's face.  
  
"Have I really been doing that?" He turned away talking to himself and scratching his head. "Pherhaps Himura is right, but how could it be happening without my knowledge? I have never been spontaneous let alone humorous. Hmmmm."  
  
"Do you think he's going to be Ok?" Kenshin was chuckling as he watched the tall man walk away muttering to himself in worried confusion.  
  
" Of course he will." Hiko was shaking dirt off of his white cloak. "He just needs to get used to the fact that there is more to life than endless meditation and solitude." A knowing smile twitching at his thin lips. "What he needs is a sound rousting from that feisty little ninja girl back at the Aoiya. That alone could do him wonders."  
  
"Chichioya!" Kenshin admonished him sharply but his own eyes were twinkling with merry agreement.   
  
Hiko looked at Kenshin, his eyes filled with mock innocence. "What? What did I say?" The exaggerated shrug earned him a rather sharply, raised eyebrow, and a laughingly spoken reply.  
  
"You never will change, will you?"  
  
"It is true, there are things that do need to change in this world, but perhaps there are also things that should never change. Do you not agree... Aisoku?"   
  
Kenshin's face turned serious and his eyes softened considerably as he met Hiko's twinkling emerald gaze. "Yes, Chichioya. I do agree."  
  
"Ewwwww! Yuck! That is just nasty lookin'. What are you gonna do with all of this crap?"  
  
Kenshin, Hiko, and Saitoh turned towards the disgusted voice and found that Yahiko and Soujirou had approached them and were now standing over Elsbeth's headless body. Both of them were wrinkling up their faces in distaste as they examined what was left of the woman and the growing puddle of blood on the white marble floor. "How you gonna explain this to whoever you gotta explain it too? I don't think you can say she had a bad accident with a cooking utensil."  
  
The group of grown men looked around at each other trying very hard not to laugh at the sarcastic but very true remark.   
  
"I think we should just leave her here. Let the world believe Lady Katsura disappeared. No one else need ever know what occurred here tonight, and with the Palace being closed to the public..." Saitoh's voice trailed off as he steadily met the look of a man he still did not like, but one he would rather call his friend than his enemy from now on.  
  
"Hmmmm," Kenshin looked around the imense room taking in the magnitude of damage that had occurred during the supernatural battle they had all been engaged in, and nodded in quiet agreement. "You may have to be a bit more convincing with the Meigi about not letting ANYONE up here for a very long time."  
  
"Why do you say that, Battousai? What difference does the government have to do with it?"  
  
"Guards, Saitoh. They will want to replace their guards once they realize the ones who were here are dead. They cannot be allowed to do that. No one can see what is in here until it has had a chance to turn to dust or be claimed by the ivy vines."  
  
"He is right, Saitoh." Hiko nodded. "You cannot take the chance some idiot will come sniffing around in here and then start asking questions."  
  
"Quite right. I will have Izukia write something up about plague infested rats or something. That should keep everyone out of here for at least five or ten years don't you think?"  
  
"Excellent idea, my friend. I have always said you had the most brilliant mind I knew, next to mine of course." Hiko draped his arm across Saitoh's thin shoulders. "Especially when it comes to making up bullshit for people to believe."   
  
"Why, thank-you Hiko. Coming from you, that is truly a grand compliment."  
  
"You think so?" Both men were smiling sarcastically at one another as the atmosphere around them began to tingle with the static of an up coming duel of insulting inuendo's.   
  
"Of course, it has become widely known that you are the unreputed King of bullshit, so you would know a good story if you heard one. Thank-you for noticing."  
  
"Not a problem, Saitoh. Do they not say, Great minds think alike?"  
  
"Why, yes they do. What a coincidence." With a triumphant look on his face, Saitoh finally produced a cigarette out of his tattered coat, but then scowled when he did not have a match. Hiko burst out in loud rolling laughter as he walked away and bent over to pick up a smoldering piece of wood.  
  
"Allow me, old Friend." He chuckled and lit the slim smoke and then threw the wood carelessly aside. "Let's get the hell out of here. Where's Aoshi? The way his mind is screwing around with itself right now, somebody had better go get that boy before he gets lost."  
  
"We will find him, Sofu." Soujirou nodded solemnly to him Grand-Father. "Come, little brother. Let's go find Aoshi-sama. He did seem to be having some difficulties dealing with the changes in his thinking process." A soft giggle was heard, and everyone turned to look at the boyish face of the Tenkin.   
  
Kenshin was more than relieved to find himself looking into the gentle blue-grey eyes of his son, Seta Soujirou. The strange perky, over happy personality of the Tenkin had once again receded into the far recesses of the young swordsman's mind, and the innocent open face of the boy Kenshin loved so dearly was once again where it belonged.  
  
'He's back.' Kenshin's heart sang in joyous relief. 'They are both back. I still have them both. Thank-you Kami-sama. Thank-you for my sons.' He and the other two older men watched as Soujirou and Yahiko danced off into the grey darkness calling Aoshi's name.  
  
"They'll find him." Hiko said. "Soujirou will bring him back to the Aoiya, you can trust him."  
  
"I know, Chichioya. I am glad you believe that too."  
  
"Well, he is your son, Kenshin. Of course I would trust him."  
  
Kenshin shot surprised violet eyes in Hiko's direction, but the big man and Saitoh were already leaving with the thin policeman carrying the still sleeping Kuumi cradled tenderly against his chest.   
  
"You shouldn't worry so much, Kenshin. They are both good boys." Hiko's voice chimed back through the chilled air, and then he stopped and paused for a moment and looked over his shoulder. "If you aren't sure you can handle that Little Lion after the baby comes... well, send him up to me for a while. I'll take a crack at him. One of us has got to teach him how to control that bloody whirlwind that lives inside of him before he blows us all to kingdom come."   
  
Kenshin looked down at his hands and smiled a little ironically. The fact that they were all alive and safe WAS because of that bloody whirlwind inside of Yahiko, but he knew Hiko was right. The boy needed to learn to control it now before it got loose and hurt someone he cared about. He was of the age that it would just continue to grow in strength and intensity, and if it was not curbed and trained, then Yahiko could easily succomb to madness and become a servant of Evil.  
  
"I will not let that happen." He spoke softly and clenched his hands into determined fists. "I will not lose either him or Soujirou to the darkness ever again."  
  
"Kenshin?" The voice behind him was soft and terribly weak, but it was clear and lucid. "It is finally over, isn't it?"  
  
He turned around and took a weak and trembling Kaoru into his arms cradling her against him. "Yes, koishii. It is finally over. Everything will be all right now. No more nightmares, no more dead children, no more witches, demons or devils. Just peace and our future."  
  
"Our future.... that sounds so odd right now."  
  
"Odd? Why do you say that, Saiai?" His lips tenderly grazed against her temple as he tucked her beneath his chin.  
  
"I was prepared for there to be no future for us. I was prepared to be dead as long as you could kill that crazy bitch, stop all of this, and save the child... save all of the children. No matter what you did, she was going to kill me anyway, and I did not want my death to be for nothing. So I figured if I could distract her long enough for you to get close, or if I could make her mad enough to miss the time window..."  
  
"Kaoru, I could not have lived with the memory of your death in this place. I fought for more than just the children in here tonight. I fought for you, Yahiko, Soujirou, Hiko, Aoshi, Misao, and even for Saitoh. I fought for all of our friends and family as well as the innocents of Japan and our God-given rights to live and to be happy, and it was the knowledge that I would be able to be with you and our unborn son when it was all over that kept me going." He gently picked her up into his strong arms and started to walk out of the room. "It was my love for you that kept me strong, Aisai."  
  
The White Warrior and his Elemental Army walked into the pale pink of the early dawn morning. Each one was savoring his own feelings of relief, deep gratitude to Kami-sama and his comrades, and the humility of being able to watch another sunrise while still breathing the air of the living. As they emerged from the great gate onto the old dirt road, they stopped and stood together for a long moment.  
  
Soujirou and Yahiko stood side by side with the ever pensive but now much more relaxed Aoshi. They had found him standing outside the Palace looking at the fading stars with a faraway look about him. As they had approached the tall thin ninja, he had looked at them with shining jade eyes and said, "I want to go back to the Aoiya and tell Misao I love her." Both younger men were surprised into silence and had stared at him with mouths gaping open. "Hiumura is right. Life is too short to keep everything buried inside. Love is meant to be shared, and the past means nothing to it if it is a real love." Soujirou and Yahiko had simply nodded and grinned at Aoshi.   
  
He had finally learned life's most important lesson, although neither of them ever remembered Kenshin saying any of those things. Of course, neither of them were considering the unique information Aoshi had become privy too while he had shared minds with Kenshin. Those two men knew more about one another than any of the other members of their group, and that made them brothers in a very close and unique way.  
  
Saitoh and Hiko were standing with Kenshin. Saitoh continued to cradle little Kuumi in his ams, holding her close to the warmth of his heart. There was an odd look on his now normal face. The usually narrow piercing features had grown almost soft and gentle as he gazed quietly into the small sleeping face of innocence. Hiko glanced at Kenshin and the two shared a meaningful look.  
  
"Elsbeth killed her whole family, Saitoh. Why don't you and Tokio take her."  
  
Saitoh shot Kenshin a startled look. "Take her? You mean keep her? As our own?"  
  
"I think so too. The two of you never got the chance to have any children of your own, and you said it yourself that day. You wished you had not made Tokio wait to have a baby." Hiko reached out and touched the fine hair on Kuumi's little head where it rested comfortably against Saitoh's chest. "I think the two of you would make excellent parents, and, God knows, she needs someone strong to look out for her now and help her get through all of this."  
  
Saitoh looked at the little angel in his arms once more, and felt a strange warmth start burning inside his heart. Could a man like himself find the softness within him to accept the responsibilities for one so small and helpless? One that would need so much of his heart? One that needed to be loved and held and nurtured? Was he capable of such feelings and actions?  
  
He had been that kind of man once, long ago before he lost Tokio and his reasons for living, but now he had her back and his heart had begun to live again. Was there enough room in his pitifully emotion poor heart for one more? Saitoh felt a tender smile curve across his lips of its own will, and the warmth inside his heart grew into a flaming heat. Yes, he could find room within himself for this beautiful little angel. He bent his head down and pressed a gentle kiss upon the downy softness of Kummi's head.  
  
It appeared Aoshi was not the only one who had learned life's most important lesson that night.  
  
Kenshin smiled and hugged the sleeping body of his beloved closer to his own beating heart. Everything was going to be all right now. Everything was as it should be, and all was right within the world of the living.  
  
"Let's go home." He said to his new family. "Let's all go home."  
  
Far across the Ocean, in a large stone keep built of gray and white granite, a child was lying on the floor curled into a fetal ball screaming in hysterical terror and fury. Salty tears burned his huge dark blue eyes and stained the pale brown flesh of his face as they surged like twin raging rivers down his cheeks. He lay on his side trembling violently as pain and fear tore through his slim yet muscular body.  
  
"Vengare' su asesinato. Todo los que son culpables en causar su muerte morira'. El Guerrero Blanco morira'. Yo lo vengare', Mi Madre." He cried in sorrow and confusion as he frantically rubbed at the burning pain around his slender throat. "Vengare' su asesinato, Mi Madre."  
  
Spanish Translation: "I will avenge your murder. All of those who are guilty in causing your death will die. The White Warrior will die. I will avenge you, My Mother."  
  
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Please Review... I would appreciate some feed back  
  
Enjoy the Sequel... 'Beloved of The White Flame'. 


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